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November 19, 2020 |
Your weekly look at the latest news, analysis, and RJC activities around the country. |
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— Featured —
Trump Administration Makes History Again with Israel
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Israel this week, making history. He became the first US secretary of state to visit an Israeli community in Judea when he stopped at the Psagot winery. He is also the first US secretary of state to visit the Golan Heights; he toured the area near the Syrian border.
Today, Secretary Pompeo issued new guidelines to label Israeli goods made in Judea and Samaria as “Made in Israel.” The Hill reports:
Pompeo said the new State Department guidance applies to Israeli goods made in areas “where Israel exercises the relevant authorities,” notably settlements in Area C of the West Bank — territory that is under Israeli civil and military control as determined by the 1993 Oslo Accords.
Such products when exported to the United States will be labeled as “Israel,” “Product of Israel” or “Made in Israel.”
Pompeo further said that products made in territory under the control of the Palestinian Authority will be recognized as products of the “West Bank” and a separate label would be given to products made in Gaza.
… “Under the new approach, we will no longer accept ‘West Bank/Gaza’ or similar markings, in recognition that Gaza and the West Bank are politically and administratively separate and should be treated accordingly,” he said in a statement.
Secretary Pompeo also announced this week that the US will recognize the global Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement as antisemitic. He said, “The time is right… We want to join all the other nations that recognize BDS for the cancer that it is.” He added that “anti-Zionism is antisemitism.”
Another historic moment: Secretary Pompeo was present to welcome the first-ever official ministerial visit from Bahrain to Israel. Leaders from the US, Israel and Bahrain met in Jerusalem to formalize the Abraham Accords.
All of these unprecedented events happened because of the strong support of the Trump administration for Israel.
Irit Tratt examines the changing demographics of the Jewish community and how they may impact future elections. She writes:
Jewish migration from blue states to swing states is increasing and is likely to continue. Consequently, there is likely to be a renewed focus on our community’s vote — and that vote is going to matter more in these swing states than it does in traditional Jewish strongholds like New York, New Jersey, and California. Additionally, the ascent and growth of an anti-Israel block in the Democratic Party could erode Jewish support there…
…In the coming years, the Republican Party as a whole will have the opportunity to continue to develop and nurture its relationship with the Jewish community as Jewish voters become a more concentrated voting bloc in areas outside of the tri-state area and California.
House leaders Reps. Scalise, McCarthy, and Cheney.
The House GOP caucus elected its leadership this week. The Wall Street Journal reports:
Two of Mr. Trump’s closest allies on Capitol Hill, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), easily won re-election to their posts Tuesday afternoon, buoyed by House Republicans’ strong election showing in which they narrowed the Democrats’ majority.
…Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY)… also retained her position as chairwoman of the House GOP conference…
We congratulate the reelected House leaders, who are good friends of Israel and the RJC.
In our “What to Watch” newsletter on Monday, we noted several congressional races that were still undecided. This week, Burgess Owens (UT-4) and Andrew Garbarino (NY-2) won their races; Tom Kean (NJ-7) narrowly lost his race.
Overall, Republicans did better than expected in holding and picking up House seats. Cabot Philips at the Daily Wire notes that the respected Cook Political Report rated 27 House races as “toss-ups” and Republicans won all 27.
Scott Johnson at PowerLine highlights the 12 GOP candidates (as of 11/15) who flipped seats in the House from D to R here.
On the other side of the aisle, Democrats nominated Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to another term as Speaker of the House. As Zachary Evans at National Review notes: “The Speaker needs to win 218 votes from her dwindling caucus to be reelected in January.”
Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.
The RJC encourages its members to support Senator David Perdue and Senator Kelly Loeffler in their runoff elections in Georgia. The election will take place on January 5 and will determine the balance of power in the US Senate. Both parties are pouring resources into the state.
RJC members are giving generously to the Perdue and Loeffler runoff campaigns through the RJC PAC. Have you made your contribution yet? YOU CAN DONATE HERE!
Note that donation limits have reset for the runoff. Individuals can give up to $2,800 and couples up to $5,600 to each candidate, regardless of how much you gave to Sen. Perdue and Sen. Loeffler during the general election.
We’ve already heard from many RJC members who want to volunteer to make calls into Georgia or take on other tasks. Sign up here to help with phone banking. We are also doing FOUR days of in-person door-knocking deployments on the ground in Georgia. Click here or on the graphic below to sign up!
Reps. Tlaib, Omar, and Ocasio-Cortez.
Out with the Old “Squad;” In with the New
Jonathan Tobin has a must-read op-ed this week about the “Squad” - Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). Arguably, the Squad’s radical agenda cost their party seats in the House this year. But they and their extremist allies in the Senate, including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, are hoping to influence a potential Joe Biden administration to push their agenda. They will succeed if Democrats capture the majority in the Senate. That puts moderate and pro-Israel Democrats in a bind. Read the whole thing here.
Republicans may get their own squad, a “Freedom Squad,” as the NY Post reports:
Congresswoman-elect Nicole Malliotakis will be the only Republican member in the New York City delegation come January and she is promising to be a conservative counterweight to Democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez by fighting for the “right” and forming her own “squad” of anti-socialists.
…Countering AOC’s socialist-leaning agenda is also personal for Malliotakis, whose mother’s family fled Cuba.
She joins a trio of other new House Republicans whose families left Communist and socialist societies — including Cuban Americans Carlos Gimenez and Maria Elvira-Salazar in southern Florida and Ukrainian American Victoria Spartz in Indiana. “We need to form our own ‘squad.’ We have a group of new Republicans who love America. We value freedom, liberty and opportunity,” Malliotakis said.
In an interview with the Jewish News Syndicate:
[Malliotakis] touted her own record of voting for resolutions condemning BDS, calling out anti-Semitism and being critical of members of Congress such as “Squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) for making anti-Semitic remarks.
On foreign policy, Malliotakis praised U.S. President Donald Trump’s actions on Israel and said that the U.S.-Israel relationship is important for economic, military and security reasons, and needs to be strengthened.
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BUY YOUR KIPPAH HERE.
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Israel-bashing at the WHO — in the middle of a pandemic
Some things, sadly, don’t change. Last week the World Health Organization devoted four full hours of its annual assembly in Geneva to bashing Israel for supposedly violating the health rights of Palestinians.
By a vote of 78 to 14, with 32 abstentions, the assembly resolved to hold the same “debate” over Israel again next year, and to order a new report on the “health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan.”
Rudy Boschwitz at 90
RJC Leader Senator Rudy Boschwitz was celebrated by friends, including Senate leaders past and present, on the occasion of his 90th birthday. The University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School has posted the film teaser for a 30-minute broadcast-ready program about Rudy’s life and accomplishments. It’s an inspirational story: fleeing Nazi Germany, building a business, raising a family, serving in the U.S. Senate. See it at the link above. Our best wishes go out to Senator Boschwitz.
— Events —
RJC Victory Team
Georgia Runoff Days of Action
We are holding Virtual Days of Action and making calls on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays to get out the vote in Georgia for the very important runoff elections there on January 5. Click here to sign up and help!
December 2: A Special Virtual Event
Join us for a live webinar on December 2 at 2:30pm Eastern: "The Senate is at Stake - A Conversation with Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler," moderated by RJC National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman. Click here to register!
You can watch these past virtual events on the RJC web site:
- Closing Arguments: What's at Stake for the Jewish Community, featuring Jason Greenblatt
- A Conversation with Boris Epshteyn
- A Conversation with Senator Ted Cruz
- A Conversation with Jason Miller
- RJC Town Hall with Nikki Haley and Mark Levin
You can access all of them by going to the RJC homepage and scrolling down to the "RJC Live" section. There's a drop-down menu there to select the video you want to see.
While RJC offices are closed and our staff are teleworking, you can reach us by email or by phone (please leave a voicemail message and your call will be returned). Contact information for our offices can be found on our web site. Please visit us online for the latest RJC news, to volunteer for our 2020 outreach efforts, to see details of upcoming events, and to donate to the RJC.
If you like the work we’re doing, consider joining us on Facebook and Twitter, and renew or upgrade your RJC membership. Ensure that your voice is heard in our party and our community!
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