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  • Harris 'last person in room' with Biden on foreign policy decisions, former US envoy says

    Mike Wagenheim|Aug 30, 2024

    (JNS) — During Barack Obama’s presidency, Thomas Nides attended foreign policy meetings as U.S. deputy secretary of state for management and resources. Just as he saw Obama include Joe Biden, then the vice president, Nides has seen President Biden consult with Vice President Kamala Harris. “I sat in the Situation Room for hundreds of meetings with President Obama and the vice president, and the vice president was included on almost every major foreign policy decision,” Nides told JNS on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convent...

  • DNC's second night featured 5 Jewish speakers, condemnation of antisemitism - and few mentions of Israel

    Ron Kampeas|Aug 30, 2024

    (JTA) — CHICAGO — Doug Emhoff talked about Passover brisket and riding the bus to Hebrew school. And Chuck Schumer wore a blue-square pin below the American flag on his lapel, symbolizing the struggle against antisemitism. The second night of the Democratic National Convention was intensely Jewish: Along with Emhoff and Schumer directly discussing their Jewish identities, two other prominent Jewish elected officials — Bernie Sanders and J.B. Pritzker — took the stage, while the night opened with an invocation by Rabbi Sharon Brous. Jewish herit...

  • Biden calls to 'end this war' as DNC opens with almost no sparring over Israel and Gaza

    Ron Kampeas|Aug 30, 2024

    (JTA) — CHICAGO — In a speech on the Democratic convention floor, President Joe Biden vowed to “end this war” in Gaza and free hostages. But he did not mention Israel by name and gave a nod to protesters outside the convention hall, where pro-Palestinian demonstrators had gathered. “We’ll keep working to bring hostages home and end the war in Gaza, and bring peace and security to the Middle East,” he said. “We’re working around the clock — my secretary of state — to prevent a wider war and reunite hostages with their families, and surge humanit...

  • Parents of Hamas captive describe 'support and kindness' at DNC

    Mike Wagenheim|Aug 30, 2024

    (JNS) — The parents of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, along with those in attendance on Wednesday evening at Chicago’s United Center, provided the Democratic National Convention with one of its most memorable moments. Entering to chants of “Bring Them Home,” Jonathan Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin brought tears to the eyes of many in attendance with the gut-wrenching story of their son and Chicago native, and their broader thoughts on the hostages held in the Gaza Strip. Speaking with reporters Wednesday night, Hersh’s...

  • Billboards in LA and Philadelphia ask, 'Who's behind this chaos?'

    Carin M. Smilk|Aug 23, 2024

    (JNS) - In a sign of the times, billboards have been placed along highways in Los Angeles and Philadelphia to address the rising tide of antisemitism in the United States. "Who's behind this chaos?" reads one. Another says, "Did you miss your flight when this airport was shut down by an anti-Israel mob?" Three billboards were put up in Los Angeles during the last week of July, and two in Philadelphia were erected the first week of August. Both are scheduled to stay in place through most of the...

  • Harris campaign taps Israeli-born former peace negotiator Ilan Goldenberg as liaison to Jewish community

    Ron Kampeas|Aug 23, 2024

    (JTA) - Kamala Harris' presidential campaign has named Ilan Goldenberg, an Israeli-born former peace negotiator, as its liaison to the Jewish community, sources say. Three people with close ties to the organized Jewish community and the Harris campaign confirmed the pick to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The campaign did not return a request for comment. Goldenberg, who has served as Vice President Harris' adviser on Middle East issues, has previously been an acerbic critic of both Israeli...

  • Ilhan Omar easily wins primary

    Luke Tress and Ron Kampeas|Aug 23, 2024

    (JTA) — Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar won her Democratic party primary on Tuesday, securing a victory for the hardline-left “Squad” member who is one of Israel’s fiercest critics in Congress. Omar defeated her challenger, Don Samuels, in Minnesota’s 5th District by a margin of 56 percent to 43 percent with nearly all votes reported. Samuels is a centrist, pro-Israel Democrat who narrowly lost a primary vote to Omar in 2022. This time around, Omar’s campaign said it had learned from the close call and worked harder to shore up support. Omar’s win...

  • Video shows Tim Walz praising 'Hitler-promoting' Islamic cleric

    Erez Linn|Aug 23, 2024

    (Israel Hayom via JNS) — A video from 2018 has surfaced showing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz referring to a Muslim cleric with controversial views as a “master teacher,” according to reporting by the Washington Examiner. The footage, which emerged during Walz’s campaign for vice president, contradicts recent statements from his campaign team. The video, recorded at a Feb. 16, 2018, event hosted by Minnesota’s Muslim American Society, captures Walz praising Asad Zaman, director of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota. “I am a teacher, so...

  • Tim Walz says he has no personal relationship with imam who shared pro-Hitler video

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Aug 23, 2024

    (JTA) — For days, Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz has been dogged by criticism — including from the Republican Jewish Coalition — about his ties to a Minnesota imam who praised Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and once shared a link to a pro-Hitler documentary. Now, the Harris-Walz campaign has responded, saying that Walz has no “personal relationship” with Imam Asad Zaman, the executive director of the Muslim American Society Minnesota, a network of seven mosques, despite appearing together in public events on several occasions....

  • Murder case dismissed against man charged with killing Samantha Woll

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Aug 23, 2024

    (JTA) — A man charged with multiple counts in the killing of Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll has had a murder charge dismissed by the judge in the case. Woll, a 40-year-old Democratic and interfaith activist and president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, was found stabbed to death outside of her home on Oct. 21, 2023. Her killing came just two weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, alarming Jews in Detroit and beyond who feared that she had been the victim of an antisemitic attack. But law enforcement was quick to say tha...

  • 'I am proud of my faith': Josh Shapiro embraces Jewish identity at rally for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz

    Ron Kampeas|Aug 16, 2024

    (JTA) — Pennsylvania’s Jewish governor, Josh Shapiro, hasn’t had the easiest week when it comes to, well, being Jewish. So, when it came to speaking publicly about Vice President Kamala Harris and the man she chose over him to be her own running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Shapiro had a point he wanted to make. “I lean on my family and I lean on my faith which calls me to serve,” Shapiro said at a rally Tuesday in his hometown, Philadelphia. “And I am proud of my faith!” Shapiro was among the top two or three contenders that Harris, the D...

  • J.D. Vance says that Josh Shapiro had to 'run' from his Jewish heritage while vying for VP role

    Ron Kampeas|Aug 16, 2024

    (JTA) — J.D. Vance, the Ohio senator who is Donald Trump’s running mate, said he “feels bad” that Josh Shapiro, the Jewish Pennsylvania governor who was in contention to be Kamala Harris’ running mate, has to “run” from being Jewish to get the job. Harris, the vice president who is the Democratic presidential nominee, on Tuesday named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Shapiro was in the top two or three in contention and was also subject to a campaign from the progressive left to keep him off the ticket because of his views on Isra...

  • White House slams Cori Bush's threat to AIPAC

    Ron Kampeas|Aug 16, 2024

    (JTA) — WASHINGTON — The White House condemned as “inflammatory” a pledge by Missouri Rep. Cori Bush to AIPAC that she would “tear your kingdom down,” implying that heated rhetoric like hers could inspire political violence. Bush, a member of the “Squad,” the group of far-left Democrats that is harshly critical of Israel, lost a costly primary on Tuesday to St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell. Political action committees allied with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee spent more than $9 million against Bush, making the election th...

  • Anti-Israel supporters get cold shoulder

    Mike Wagenheim|Aug 16, 2024

    (JNS) — As some 10,000 people braved the summer heat and rain in line to enter Temple University’s Liacouras Center in North Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon for Vice President Kamala Harris’s first event with her newly-announced running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, half a dozen protesters chanted “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.” The protesters, some of whom were clad in keffiyehs and masked, used bullhorns and yelled for hours in front of an essentially...

  • Jewish vote impacted Bell's margin of victory over Bush, Agudah says

    JNS Staff|Aug 16, 2024

    (JNS) — Analysts are still poring over the data from Wesley Bell’s victory over anti-Israel ‘Squad’ member Cori Bush in the Missouri Democratic primary on Tuesday night, but Rabbi A.D. Motzen is sure that the Jewish vote made a difference in Bell’s nearly 7,000-vote margin of victory. “I can’t say with certainty that Jews made up the entire 7,000-vote margin, as we only worked on the Orthodox community,” the national director of government affairs at Agudath Israel of America told JNS. “We also don’t know how many took a Republican ballot—n...

  • Minnesota's Jews celebrate as their 'mensch' Gov. Tim Walz enters the national spotlight

    Jackie Hajdenberg|Aug 16, 2024

    (JTA) — On Oct. 9, as the toll of Hamas’ attack on Israel was still being tallied, Tim Walz stood before a room of Jewish Minnesotans and condemned the invasion of two days earlier. “If you did not find moral clarity on Saturday morning, and you find yourself waiting to think about what you needed to say, you need to reevaluate where you’re at,” the governor said at the event, which was co-hosted by the local Jewish Community Relations Council. Those words resonated with Steve Hunegs, the JCRC’s executive director. He also said they tracke...

  • Kamala Harris selects Tim Walz, pro-Israel Minnesota governor, as her running mate

    Philissa Cramer|Aug 9, 2024

    (JTA) - Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor who burst into national view after calling Republicans "weird," will be Kamala Harris' running mate on the November Democratic ticket. Multiple outlets reported the choice early Aug.6, hours before Harris was set to appear with her pick at a Philadelphia rally. Harris' decision ends speculation that Josh Shapiro, the Jewish governor of Pennsylvania, could be in line for the role. Walz and Shapiro were reportedly the two final choices narrowed from a...

  • Josh Shapiro quotes ancient rabbi in statement about not being Kamala Harris' VP pick

    Ben Sales|Aug 9, 2024

    (JTA) — When he was elected governor of Pennsylvania in 2022, Josh Shapiro declared victory by quoting a famous adage from Pirkei Avot, an ancient code of Jewish ethics. Now, after losing the battle to be Kamala Harris’ running mate, Shapiro has turned to the same adage, attributed to Rabbi Tarfon, a sage who lived nearly 2,000 years ago. “Since I first ran for State Representative 20 years ago, I’ve been called to serve because I want to leave our community, our Commonwealth, and our country better off for our children – and because my faith...

  • 'Squad' member Cori Bush is defeated in St. Louis primary

    Ron Kampeas|Aug 9, 2024

    (JTA) — Democratic Rep. Cori Bush, a member of the hardline left-wing “Squad” that is harshly critical of Israel, was defeated in a St. Louis-area primary race by an opponent who attracted millions of dollars in pro-Israel money. The Associated Press called the race for Wesley Bell, the St. Louis County prosecutor, Tuesday night as Bell led Bush 51.2 percent to 45.6 percent with more than 96 percent of the vote counted. It was the second Democratic primary win for pro-Israel political action committees against a member of the Squad. In June, a...

  • What Jews should know about the Kamala Harris veepstakes

    Andres Lapin and Ron Kampeas|Aug 2, 2024

    (JTA) - One day after President Joe Biden ended his campaign, leading Democrats have coalesced around Vice President Kamala Harris - and begun speculating about her running mate. At least two Jewish governors are thought to be top contenders. Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro and Illinois' J.B. Pritzker were both floated as potential presidential candidates when pressure began mounting for Biden to drop out. Now, one of them could join Harris on the ticket if she wins the nomination. Another...

  • Agitators burn US flags

    Andrew Bernard|Aug 2, 2024

    (JNS) - Anti-Israel protesters violently confronted Capitol Hill police and burned the American flag in front of Union Station on Wednesday afternoon during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hour-long address to Congress. In what the event organizers described as a protest to "Arrest Netanyahu: Surround the Capitol," thousands of attendees rallied at the intersection of Third Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. In their permit for the event submitted to the U.S. Park Police and...

  • Kamala Harris says she 'will not be silent' about plight of Palestinians after meeting Benjamin Netanyahu

    Ron Kampeas|Aug 2, 2024

    WASHINGTON — In her first statement on Israel as a presidential candidate, Kamala Harris struck a markedly different tone than President Joe Biden, saying after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that she “will not be silent” in the face of what she called the “devastation” in Gaza. The vice president met on July 25 for 40 minutes with Netanyahu, who had met with Biden earlier in the day for more than an hour. The differences between the public statements made before and after the meetings illustrate where the president...

  • $100 million for anti-Israel, anti-US activists

    Aug 2, 2024

    (JNS) — A report issued by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) reveals how a Biden administration law aimed at reducing inflation plans to provide millions in taxpayer dollars to radical nonprofit entities. “Investment in Radical Activists: A Case Study on the NDN Collective Supported by the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act,” which was released on Tuesday, shows that the far-left group NDN Collective would receive $100 million through the Environmental Protection Agency as part of Democrats’ $1.6 trillion Inflation Reduction Act. The resea...

  • Jewish Democrat speaks at RNC

    Ron Kampeas|Jul 26, 2024

    MILWAUKEE - Shabbos Kestenbaum remembers the first time he felt lonely because he held an unpopular political opinion. The year was 2008, and Kestenbaum was 9 and a student at a Modern Orthodox Jewish day school in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, where he lived. In a school journal, he decried the Iraq War and extolled a young senator running for president on a platform of opposing it. "I remember with my dad, we bought a yard sign saying 'Barack Obama' in Hebrew," Kestenbaum recalled in an...

  • Introducing Dan Pollak, director of ZOA Government Relations

    Edward Borowsky|Jul 26, 2024

    Since 2007, Dan Pollak has been directing operations for the Zionist Organization of America at their Washington, D.C. office where his role is to help educate members of Congress, their staff, and other government officials on the relationship between the United States and Israel as well as on policy issues relating to the Middle East. Pollak is coming to Orlando on Sunday, Aug. 11, to present two topics at two different synagogues. At 1:30 p.m. he will be at the Southwest Orlando Jewish Congre...

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