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Fox News reports:

Vice President Kamala Harris nodded while a student accused Israel of ethnic genocide and then responded by saying the student's "truth should not be suppressed."

…"I see that over the summer there have been, like, protests and demonstrations in astronomical numbers" about the Palestinian cause, the student said. She went on to note how "just a few days ago there were funds allocated to continue backing Israel, which hurts my heart because it's ethnic genocide and displacement of people, the same that happened in America, and I'm sure you're aware of this."

… Harris replied that she "was glad" the student brought up such concerns and went on to say her opinion should be heard in a democracy.

"And again, this is about the fact that your voice, your perspective, your experience, your truth, should not be suppressed and it must be heard, right? And one of the things we're fighting for in a democracy, right?" Harris said.

Watch the exchange between Harris and the student here.

Alana Goodman at the Washington Free Beacon notes:

Pro-Israel groups said they were troubled that Harris—who is viewed as one of the more pro-Israel voices in a Democratic Party that is growing increasingly hostile to the Jewish state—failed to push back on the audience member’s claims.

...Multiple news outlets highlighted Harris’s professed support for Israel during the 2020 election. McClatchy reported in 2019 that she was "resisting pressure from the left flank of her Democratic Party to take a more critical stance on the Israeli government" and was "holding firmly to her moderate approach to U.S.-Israel relations."

Harris's then-spokeswoman Lily Adams told the news service that Harris’s "support for Israel is central to who she is" and that she was "firm in her belief that Israel has a right to exist and defend itself, including against rocket attacks from Gaza."

The Vice President's office felt the heat from Israel supporters and tried to calm the situation, as Politico reports this evening:

Vice President Kamala Harris’ office is working behind the scenes to mend relationships with pro-Israel Democrats after not pushing back on a student who, in asking her a question, accused Israel of “ethnic genocide.”

On Thursday, Harris' senior staff contacted the influential Democratic Majority for Israel to clean up remarks she made Wednesday at George Mason University where Harris was visiting a classroom of students. "We were pleased Vice President Harris’s senior staff reached out to us today to confirm what we already knew: Her ‘commitment to Israel’s security is unwavering,’” said Mark Mellman, the president of the group.

The Republican Jewish Coalition was featured in two articles about the efforts of radical Democrats in the House to cut funding from Israel’s Iron Dome defense system.

The Daily Caller reports:

Many prominent Jewish groups have only weakly criticized Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib following a rant in the House of Representatives that one fellow Democrat labeled antisemitic

[However,] the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) slammed Tlaib’s comments and JDCA’s silence.

“Congresswoman Tlaib’s comments attacking our ally Israel on the floor of the House of Representatives were appalling. Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated incident, as House Democratic leadership has refused time and again to hold their members accountable for dangerous anti-Israel rhetoric. In contrast, House Republican leadership has consistently held their members accountable, whether that be former Rep. Steve King or current Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. RJC proudly and righteously supported primary challengers against both Steve King and Marjorie Taylor Greene – while the Jewish Democratic Council of America has refused to support primary challengers against Rashida Tlaib or Ilhan Omar. Bottom line: the GOP and RJC walk the walk, while the Democrats and JDCA shrug and balk,” RJC national political director Sam Markstein told the Daily Caller.

Jeff Dunetz notes:

Republican Thomas Massie (R-KY) voted no [on Iron Dome funding] also. Massie has a track record of anti-Israel and antisemitic votes and was opposed by the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) when he was primaried the last time he ran for re-election. Massie proves that even a party that leads the fight for Israel’s ability to protect herself and fights against antisemitism can have a hater. It also proves that the RJC fights against haters no matter what their party. Their Democratic equivalent (JDCA) supports anyone with a “D” no matter what their stance on Jews or Israel. Heck, Jewish Democrat org. even supported the antisemitic/ anti-Israel Barack Obama.

Members of the radical "Squad" in US House, including Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Cori Bush (D-MO), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) knocked funding for Israel’s defensive Iron Dome system out of the government funding bill last week and opposed the stand-alone bill that restored that funding. Last Thursday, speaking on the House floor, Rashida Tlaib said, "I will not support an effort to enable and support war crimes, human rights abuses and violence. The Israeli government is an apartheid regime." Cori Bush chimed in with this: "Palestinians deserve freedom from militarized violence too. We shouldn't be sending an additional $1B to an apartheid state's military. Especially not when we are failing to adequately invest in the health care, housing, education, and other social services our communities need."

Cliff May, writing at the Washington Times, puts what happened in the House last week into a larger context:

“People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present” is the title of Dara Horn’s new book. I happened to receive a copy last week just as anti-Israeli members of Congress were doing their best to ensure the proliferation of more endearing corpses in the future.

Indeed, those who say that Israel has no right to defend its citizens from Hamas rocket attacks simply want to see more dead Jews. And dead non-Jews in Israel, as well, as Cliff May notes:

The Iron Dome also defends Israelis who are not Jews. Say a missile strikes an Israeli hospital. Those inside will likely include Israeli Arabs, Muslims, Christians, Druze, and other minorities. They may be doctors, nurses, or patients because Israel has no laws separating by race, ethnicity, or religion.

In other words, Israel is not an apartheid state, although that’s the slander you now incessantly hear from the Squad and others intent on demonizing, delegitimizing, and, ultimately, destroying Israel.

National Review reports:

The Senate on Thursday passed a two-month funding bill that would avert a government shutdown and keep federal agencies open until December 3 without suspending the debt limit.

The “clean” bill passed by a 65-35 vote three days after Senate Republicans blocked a key procedural vote to advance a House-passed short-term government funding bill that would have suspended the debt limit until December 2022. The House is expected to follow suit later in the day on Thursday.

Ahead of the first vote earlier this week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) demanded that Democrats use the reconciliation process to pass a debt-limit increase without Republican votes.

“Let me make it abundantly clear one more time: We will support a clean continuing resolution that will prevent a government shutdown … We will not provide Republican votes for raising the debt limit,” he said at the time.

The new “clean” funding bill will head to the House where it must be approved and sent to President [Joe] Biden for his signature before the end of Thursday, when funding for federal agencies runs out, in order to avoid a government shutdown.

The House also passed the spending bill tonight, which now goes to President Joe Biden for his signature before a government shutdown goes into effect at midnight.

Antisemitic attacks in 2020 outnumbered attacks against Muslims, Asians, transgender people combined

More American Jews suffered hate crime attacks in 2020 than Asians, Muslims, and transgender people combined, according to FBI crime tracking data. The agency recorded 676 instances of criminal offenses motivated by prejudice or hatred of Jews, making antisemitic hate crimes the third most common type of hate crimes, trailing anti-black and anti-white attacks.

How not to be president

There are particularly four major executive tasks the Constitution assigns to the president, either explicitly or implicitly: He is to serve as the head of state, to command the armed forces, to serve as the nation’s chief diplomat, and to take care that the laws are faithfully executed. In just the past month alone, Jay Cost writes, Joe Biden has failed miserably in each of these jobs.

Watch Now: Replay of Past Virtual Events

You can see recordings of many past RJC virtual events. Go to the RJC homepage and scroll down to the "RJC Live" section. There's a drop-down menu there to select the video you want to see.

RJC staff have returned to their offices for in-person work. Contact information for our offices can be found on our web site. Please visit us online for the latest RJC news, to see details of upcoming events, and to donate to the RJC.