Republican Jewish Coalition

The RJC Weekly Newsletter

December 10, 2020

Your weekly look at the latest news, analysis, and RJC activities around the country.

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— Featured —

Notes from Norm

 

RJC in Georgia; New Dynamic in the House

 

The battle for the Senate continues with Georgia on our minds. Polls suggest that the race between Senator David Perdue and Jon Ossoff and the race between Senator Kelly Loeffler and Raphael Warnock are both very close. Mail-in ballots have gone out to voters who requested them, and early voting begins on Monday.  

 

With control of the Senate on the line, RJC is making an unprecedented effort to mobilize Jewish support for our candidates. Our Week of Action - which will involve both in-person and virtual voter outreach - begins on Sunday. We've also got a busy schedule of Days of Action planned. And we continue to raise record sums for Senators Perdue and Loeffler through the portal on the RJC PAC web site.

 

I also wanted to note one of the key dynamics that will shape the agenda in Congress next year - the tiny Democratic margin in the House of Representatives. Democrats won just 222 seats in the 435-seat chamber. And the Democrats' margin will narrow even further assuming two or more of their members resign to accept administration posts.

 

That means that any controversial bill or resolution Democrats hope to pass could be derailed if even a few of their members defect. Assessing this power dynamic, Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said Republicans "may not be able to schedule the floor, but we will run the floor." Speaker Nancy Pelosi's first challenge will be finding enough votes to keep her job, given that ten of her members voted against her at the beginning of the previous Congress.

 

Of course, this increase in Republican strength is a result of stronger than expected support for GOP candidates from voters. Americans voted to put a tighter leash on House Democrats, dashing their hopes to increase taxes and implement a grandiose "Green New Deal." Victories in Georgia that secure a Republican Senate majority will ensure that liberal ambitions are even more unlikely to be realized.

 

Help Senators Perdue and Loeffler keep the Senate majority in Republican hands!



HOW YOU CAN HELP

We’re raising money, making phone calls, and preparing for a week of in-person canvassing. How will you help us keep the Senate majority in Republican hands?

Donate to the GOP candidates

Volunteer for Virtual Days of Action (phone & text from home)

Volunteer for the In-Person Week of Action



 

RJC in the News

 • Omri Nahmias at the Jerusalem Post reports on the RJC’s strong public statement blasting the Democrat candidates for Senate in Georgia, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff:

Matt Brooks, Executive Director for RJC, said in a statement that the two campaigned “with anti-Israel Democrat Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA-4).”

“Hank Johnson, Jon Ossoff’s mentor and former boss, enjoys referring to Israelis as ‘termites,’” said Brooks. “He used the phrase when speaking to the group called Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation – a group that supports the antisemitic BDS movement. That Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff rely on Johnson to boost their campaigns is a direct endorsement of Johnson’s bigoted statements about the citizens of the only Jewish country in the world.”

…“Jon Ossoff certainly knows what Johnson has said about Jews from Israel, and Raphael Warnock either knows, or is being purposefully ignorant,” Brooks added. “Today it became even more clear that they will stand with the large anti-Israel contingent of the Democrat Party, ensuring that they will not stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel.”

 • The Atlanta Jewish Times reported on the Jewish community’s involvement in the Georgia Senate runoff races, noting the RJC’s recent newspaper ad there:

The RJC took out a two-page ad inside the front cover of the Nov. 30 edition of the [Atlanta Jewish Times]. Atop the left side was an image of an angry-looking Ossoff, tying him to “the far-left pro-Palestinian group J Street,” and below that, a photo of Ossoff’s “mentor,” Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson, from Georgia’s 4th Congressional District.

“That’s right, the same Hank Johnson who called Jews living in Israeli settlements ‘termites.’ Hank Johnson is a vile anti-Semite. And Jon Ossoff worked for him,” the ad states.

 • RJC Atlanta Chapter chairs Chuck and Bonnie Berk wrote a letter to the editor of the Atlanta Jewish Times after the paper received criticism for running the RJC ad. They wrote:

It was upsetting to see the AJT receive numerous negative posts about the ad that the Republican Jewish Coalition placed in the last issue, and for some illogical reason, these readers blamed this newspaper for allowing us to pay for and place this ad.

It may not be what these disgruntled readers wanted to hear, but we applaud the AJT for providing the opportunity to share with readers facts, not opinions about Rev. Warnock’s checkered background. The information about Rev. Warnock in the RJC ad were his actual anti-Israel and anti-Semitic statements and actions, footnoted and documented. For voters to make an informed voting decision, it is important that they are made aware of this information. And, since the mainstream media is ignoring this side of the Reverend’s past, it took courage for the AJT to print the ad, which demonstrates that Rev. Warnock is, at best, deeply conflicted over Israel.

• Fox News reported last night

In a 2016 sermon, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition to a two-state solution for peace in the region.

He called Netanyahu’s stance “tantamount to saying occupation today, occupation tomorrow, occupation forever,” a line similar to former Alabama Gov. George Wallace’s call for, “segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever.”

The RJC fired off a “rapid response” statement this morning, which was quoted in The Daily Wire today:

Rev. Warnock recently told a Jewish group that he supports Israel, but he has a long history of statements that testify to the fact that he does not. His 2016 comparison of Prime Minister Netanyahu to segregationist George Wallace in front of an African American audience was simple hatemongering.

Warnock claims to have recently come to understand that Hamas is a violent enemy threatening Israel. There is a great deal more that he needs to learn about the Palestinians’ goal of genocide and Israel’s history of sacrificing for peace, before the Jewish community could ever begin to trust his newly announced “support” of Israel. The preponderance of anti-Israel statements in his past argues that he will side with Israel’s opponents in the Democratic Party and against Israel at every opportunity. In fact, Linda Sarsour, a close friend of the antisemitic “Squad” in Congress, endorsed Warnock’s comments about Netanyahu, just as “Squad” members Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar have supported his campaign.

Warnock is the wrong choice for Georgia and for the US Senate. Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler is a good friend of Israel and the Jewish community, and we hope the voters of Georgia will re-elect her to the Senate on January 5.

 

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump, and Morocco's King Mohammed VI

Israel and Morocco to Renew Ties

Reuters reports

Israel and Morocco agreed on Thursday to normalize relations in a deal brokered with US help, making Morocco the fourth Arab country to set aside hostilities with Israel in the past four months.

RJC National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman made this statement about the news: 

We congratulate President Donald Trump and the leaders of Israel and Morocco on this historic and important step toward greater stability and peace in the region. Morocco and Israel have agreed to reopen their liaison offices, with the intention of opening embassies later. Official contacts, economic cooperation, and direct flights between the two countries will also commence. All of these steps – and we hope to see even more to follow – will enhance the security and prosperity of both countries. This is the fourth such agreement between Israel and a Muslim country in the last few months, all of which came about because of President Trump’s support of Israel and his commitment to peace in the region. President Trump has accomplished, again and again, things that diplomats from the former Obama administration said couldn’t be done. We hope that the momentum of peace in the region will continue and grow in the years ahead.

 

 

 

Congressman Calls for Removal of Rep. Rashida Tlaib from Committees 

The Daily Wire reports

A congressman out of Western Pennsylvania is calling for Congress to remove Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) from her committee assignments after two new incidents involving anti-Semitism....

Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) is calling for the removal of Tlaib from her congressional committees after Tlaib reportedly attended a conference last week that was described as “anti-Israel.” The call also comes after Tlaib recently promoted a highly inflammatory tweet on her Twitter account that used a phrase that has long been associated with extremist calls to eliminate the state of Israel.

…“House Republicans demonstrated we have zero tolerance for hateful speech in our ranks. When outgoing Republican Congressman Steve King made inexcusable racist remarks, not only did he receive widespread condemnation from both sides of the aisle, but Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy rightfully stripped him of his committee assignments,” the statement continued. “Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi, on the other hand, is deafeningly silent. By failing to act and hold Rep. Tlaib accountable, Pelosi is emboldening her and others to continue spreading and escalating this dangerous, hateful bigotry.”

 

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We still have the RJC/Trump kippah! 
Our extremely popular red Trump kippah is now for sale for just $18. This includes shipping and handling. Supplies are limited. 


BUY YOUR KIPPAH HERE.

 

 

— Tweets —

 

 

   

      

— 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! When you sign up, a team member will reach out to give you 1-on-1 training on our outreach app, so you’ll know exactly what you are doing.   

 

We are holding a Georgia Week of Action, with in-person door-knocking deployments each day from Sunday, December 13 to Wednesday, December 16. Sign up here to participate!

 

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.

 

— Connect —

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Republican Jewish Coalition | 50 F Street, N.W., Suite 100 | Washington, DC 20001
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