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Jacob Miller at the Jewish Insider interviewed Jason Greenblatt about his new book, In the Path of Abraham: How Donald Trump Made Peace in the Middle East — and How to Stop Joe Biden from Unmaking It. Greenblatt, now a member of the RJC Board of Directors, served as President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy for almost three years and played an integral role in Trump's historic, paradigm-breaking, and very successful Middle East policy making. Miller writes:

"There's a lot of myths about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that I wanted to set straight," Greenblatt told Jewish Insider. "I also want to explain a lot about how we came to our policy decisions, President Trump's policy decisions, and the road, often many twists and turns, that lead us to the eventual peace proposal that President Trump released and then later the Abraham Accords."

In the book, Greenblatt criticizes the "Washington consensus" with which Trump broke on much of his Middle East policy, explaining that Beltway insiders have failed to resolve the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

…Greenblatt's memoir praises Trump's significant policy decisions, including the decision to relocate America's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — a decision he wrote was "righting an historical wrong" — and America's recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

The US Senate election in Pennsylvania will be hotly contested, and support for Israel will be a key issue in the race. Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican nominee, has the endorsement of the RJC PAC; he has visited Israel and supports the US-Israel alliance. The Democratic candidate, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has welcomed the endorsements of radical anti-Israel groups.

The Delaware Valley Journal reports that Fetterman has been endorsed by Peace Action, a far-left group that supports the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement against Israel. Fetterman said he was "grateful" for its endorsemen. Peace Action has reportedly called for the United States to "stop protecting Israel's nuclear weapons in the Middle East," and is a vocal defender of the Iran deal. Fetterman also supports the Obama-Biden Iran deal. "I support President Biden getting back into the deal. I think President Trump made a mistake by removing us from the Iran nuclear deal," Fetterman said at the Pittsburgh Foreign Policy Forum on March 9.

Fetterman also has the endorsement of J Street, a group that calls itself "pro-Israel" but is really a mouthpiece for the radical, leftist, anti-Israel agenda. As Lenny Ben-David pointed out on Twitter today, J Street's official lobbying report for the second quarter of 2022, filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, shows mostly pro-Palestinian advocacy.

Jonathan Tobin writes this week about the election-year fighting among Democrats over the question of Israel and notes that J Street is fully on the anti-Israel side:

J Street says that those who help elect Democrats who aren't enemies of Israel are "driving a wedge between communities of color, especially progressives, and the Jewish community" and targeting "women of color." It was one thing for J Street to say that it was saving Israel from itself. It's quite another to brand those who disagree with that preposterous position as racists.

…As the party's left-wing base has fallen under the influence of those who espouse intersectionality and critical race theory, the ability of anti-Israel extremists to win primaries and gain seats in Congress has called into question the viability of a bipartisan consensus in favor of the Jewish state.

…Giving the lie to the "pro-Israel" part of its slogan, J Street has been investing considerable resources to backing candidates who are not supportive of Israel… It is fully engaged not just in efforts to eradicate what's left of the pro-Israel wing of the party, but also ready to demonize and falsely brand those who wish to salvage bipartisanship on the issue as racist. That it is mimicking the catechism of the anti-Semitic left is not surprising. However, it does send a clear warning to anyone who wasn't already aware of just how dangerous their efforts are for Israel, the Democrats and American Jewry.

Further reading: Will American Jews continue to follow Democrats as they abandon Israel?

Republican Jewish PAC Announces Endorsements for Two Senate GOP Hopefuls (Breitbart)

The Republican Jewish Coalition PAC is announcing an endorsement for two Republican Senate hopefuls, Colorado's Joe O'Dea and Washington's Tiffany Smiley, Breitbart News exclusively learned Thursday.

… These two candidates bring the RJC PAC's total number of 2022 endorsements to date to 43. A press release for the PAC will emphasize that "Republican candidates are surging deep into Blue Territory, and Democrats are running scared." Read more here.

RJC Makes Its Third Round of Candidate Endorsements (JNS)
The Republican Jewish Coalition PAC endorsed 15 candidates in its third round of endorsements on Monday bringing the total number of candidates endorsed by the organization to 41. Out of the 15, only one—Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) is an incumbent. The rest are challengers in what the organization called "key races around the country" in a news release. Read more and see the list here.

RJC Thanks Senator Lindsey Graham for Introducing the Iran Nuclear Weapons Capability Monitoring Act
The Republican Jewish Coalition applauds the introduction of the Iran Nuclear Weapons Capability Monitoring Act, introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC). RJC National Chairman Norm Coleman said:

The recent comments by a top aide to Ayatollah [Ali] Khamenei that Iran is now capable of building a nuclear weapon are a wake-up call for Americans about the danger the regime in Tehran poses to our nation and our allies. We are grateful to Senator Graham for stepping forward with legislation that addresses this challenge by ensuring that the State Department and other key agencies are exhaustive in gathering information about Iran's illicit nuclear activities and requiring that such information be regularly shared with Congress.

Jewish Republican group is denouncing Doug Mastriano’s links to an extremist social-media site

Doug Mastriano is facing blistering criticism from Jewish leaders — both Democrats and Republicans — following the disclosure that he’s using Gab, a social-media site favored by extremists and antisemites, to advertise his Republican campaign for governor.

The head of the national Republican Jewish Coalition on Thursday called on Mastriano to leave Gab, where he has 38,000 followers and has been posting frequently...

"Jewish voters expect candidates to condemn antisemitism, whether it comes from the far left or the far right — and to shun those who espouse it," said Matt Brooks, the Republican Jewish Coalition’s executive director. "We strongly urge Doug Mastriano to end his association with Gab, a social network rightly seen by Jewish Americans as a cesspool of bigotry and antisemitism."

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We are actively reviewing resumes on a rolling basis for RJC Field Representatives in key battleground states like Georgia and Pennsylvania. Field Representatives work directly with the Political Director and RJC Victory Team volunteers to identify, persuade, and turn out Jewish voters to support Republican candidates up and down the ballot this November – work that is absolutely critical to winning back the US Senate and House of Representatives.

Click here for details and information on applying.

In Israel, Biden stumbles at the finish line

Shoshana Bryen writes that President Joe Biden's trip to Israel last week didn't start out so badly, but when he visited the West Bank: "[I]t was time to pretend that Palestinians hadn't heard what he said in Jerusalem—and that Israelis wouldn't hear what he said in Bethlehem. There needs to be, Biden said, 'two states for two people, both of whom have deep and ancient roots in this land, living side by side in peace and security.' Arabs do not have 'ancient roots' in the land; Jews do. And it is the PA that rejects the notion of a legitimate and secure Israel, nixing the possibility of two states—unless one is Hamastan."

House Republicans introduce resolution against US consulate for Palestinians

New York Rep. Lee Zeldin has introduced a concurrent resolution joined by 22 of his fellow House Republicans opposing President Joe Biden's proposal to reopen a US consulate in Jerusalem for the Palestinians. According to the resolution's text, the Biden administration's plan to open an American consulate in Jerusalem for outreach to Palestinians "could be viewed as a challenge to Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem and Jerusalem's status as an undivided city."

US rabbi reviving Jewish roots in her family's Italian town

RJC member Rabbi Barbara Aiello is profiled in an AP story about her efforts to revive the Jewish community of Serrastretta, the small town in southern Italy that her father left for America in 1923.

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