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Last week, we shared the RJC's forceful condemnation and RJC National Chairman Norm Coleman's op-ed in response to Senator Chuck Schumer's outrageous speech calling for the ouster of Benjamin Netanyahu's government and for new elections in Israel.

Many astute commentators also addressed Sen. Schumer's remarks and the significant change it marked in how the Democratic Party relates to Israel. Clearly, the bipartisan support for Israel we saw in the past is gone. Now Democrats are busy chasing votes in the most radical segment of their party.

Jonathan Tobin writes:

This isn't the direction the 2024 election cycle had to take. But whether Israelis or pro-Israel Americans wanted this to happen, support for the Jewish state has become a partisan issue. That conclusion became impossible to avoid last week when Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer gave a speech that signaled his support for a change in administration policy about Israel's post-Oct. 7 war on the Hamas terrorist organization…

The political context of this broadside was obvious. The speech was coordinated with the White House, which decided it needed a signal from prominent party centrists that they supported his decision to bash Israel. That was appalling in and of itself. But it also made it clear that the increasingly noisy civil war within the Democratic Party over the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians was already over.

Rich Lowry, the editor in chief of National Review, has this to say:

The uncommitted voters of Michigan say, "Jump," and Chuck Schumer asks, "How high?"

… The speech calling on Israeli prime minster Bibi Netanyahu to go, along with increasingly critical statements by the White House, shows that the Democrats have decided that appeasing their left-wing base in an election year is now their top consideration.

The fact of the matter is that this is not Bibi Netanyahu's war. It is the nation of Israel's war. Netanyahu sustained political damage after the October 7 attack, but his goal of prosecuting the war against Hamas to its completion is widely shared in Israel…

It is easy, sitting in Washington, D.C., and worrying about how to placate the anti-Israel uncommitted voters in the Democratic primary, to forget the shock of the massive pogrom carried out by Hamas on that infamous day in October. Israelis, though, aren't going to forget, nor should they.

The Wall Street Journal editorial board agree that politics are at play here:

The joke around Jerusalem is that while Mr. Biden once worked to help Israel after Oct. 7, he's now working on the "two-state solution": Michigan and Nevada. Israelis notice that the President rarely speaks of defeating Hamas anymore. Instead, he bashes Israel under the cover of bashing its Prime Minister.

This dance is Mr. Biden's way of catering to the anti-Israel left without alienating the bulk of US voters who would find it unconscionable to turn on the Israeli people in wartime.

Former Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman rebuked his former colleague:

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer last Thursday crossed a political red line that had never before been breached by a leader of his stature and never should be again.

… While Mr. Schumer's statement undoubtedly pleased American critics of Israel, for the Israelis it was meaningless, gratuitous and offensive.

… Mr. Schumer's statement will have every other democratic ally of the US worrying that America may try to bully our way into its domestic politics. That will diminish our allies' loyalty to us. Without dependable allies, we will have a much harder time protecting America's security, prosperity and freedom.

Mr. Schumer has a record of supporting Israel. That makes his equivocation a particularly troubling and disappointing sign that the Democratic Party is catering to members and voters who are hostile to the Jewish state. For most of my public service, Israel enjoyed strong support from Democrats and Republicans alike. If anything, Democrats were the more pro-Israel party. Now Republicans are. That partisan divide isn't good for Israel, which does best with broad bipartisan support in Washington, or for America, which needs strong alliances.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) confirmed today that he will invite Prime Minister Netanyahu to address the US Congress. As Marc Rod reports at the Jewish Insider, "Johnson, as House speaker, can invite Netanyahu to address the House, but a full joint session of the House and Senate would require Schumer’s support." Axios reported this afternoon that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) indicated that he "won't stand in the way" of inviting Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress.

NY Times: Part of My Core': How Schumer Decided to Speak Out Against Netanyahu

"Republicans and even some Democrats accused [Schumer] of inappropriately interfering in another country's elections. The Republican Jewish Coalition said that 'the most powerful Democrat in Congress knifed the Jewish state in the back.' And some on the left said he had not gone far enough in condemning Israel's conduct in the war against Hamas in Gaza."

Jewish Insider: Muslim appeals court nominee's confirmation imperiled amid antisemitism accusations

"The confirmation of Adeel Mangi, a judicial nominee who would be the first Muslim-American to serve on any federal appeals court, appears increasingly imperiled, as he faces accusations of antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment from Senate Republicans, among other charges.

"RJC National Chairman Norm Coleman and CEO Matt Brooks blasted Mangi's 'radical affiliations,' including to the Rutgers center, which they said should have 'disqualified him from being nominated for a lifetime judicial appointment.' They said that accusations that the questioning of Mangi was driven by Islamophobia are groundless 'deflection tactics.'"

AP: US Jews upset with Trump's latest rhetoric say he doesn't get to tell them how to be Jewish

"And this week, Trump charged that Jewish Democrats were being disloyal to their faith and to Israel… Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said the president's comments must be heard in context of the Israel-Gaza war and Democratic criticisms of the state of Israel.

"What the president was saying in his own unique style was giving voice to things I get asked about multiple times a day," Brooks said. "How can Jews remain Democrats in light of what is going on?" He contended the Democratic Party is "no longer the pro-Israel bastion it used to be."

RJC Board of Directors member Bernie Marcus writes at RealClearPolitics that he has lost confidence in the federal government and the media as protectors of our liberty, making this election even more critical. He writes:

There is more on the line in this year's presidential election than ever before. It is a mistake to assume that this election will be a rerun of 2020. The presumptive nominees and the world have changed since then. President [Joe] Biden can no longer portray himself as "kindly Uncle Joe" or a moderate Democrat. His recent State of the Union Address, which was the most divisive of any I recall, reveals he is a very angry man and not someone Americans would want as their uncle. His policies and the undemocratic means by which he implemented them confirm he has been pulled to the far left by far-left extremists in the Democrat Party.

… [Donald Trump's] detractors are unwilling to look past Trump's rough edges and see the results he achieved during his first of what I hope will be two terms. His policies achieved the highest wage rate in 50 years while keeping inflation in check, the lowest unemployment rate for minorities, and energy independence for America, among other stunning results. Moreover, his policies and the projection of his and America's strength kept the country out of any new foreign conflicts. It is essential to our national security that America's enemies fear our president.

… The world has also changed since 2020. It is much less safe, and America's enemies have become stronger and more emboldened. China, Iran, and Russia have become enriched by changes in America's energy policy: canceling the Keystone Pipeline, reducing oil drilling leases, and blocking all oil drilling on certain federal lands. America's cities are less safe because of the illegal entry into the country of millions of unvetted people from China, Russia, Central and South America, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. This is compounded by the unwillingness of local Democratic Party prosecutors to prosecute violent criminals. Moreover, the Taliban have reopened terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. The stakes now are even higher than the first Trump-Biden match.

… There are several actions conservative donors should take to ensure that Trump-Biden II will have a different outcome than their first match. First, the different factions of the Republican Party must unite behind Trump and participate fully in the presidential election. Put another way, no one should sit out the presidential election or withhold their financial support to our nominee…

Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, writing at National Review, offers an erudite history of Jewish life in the West and asserts that America's future is tied to the fate of the Jewish community:

[T]he past terrible months have reminded us not only of the endurance of antisemitism, but also of the remarkable way in which both the state of the Jews and the Jewish state are a prominent preoccupation in American public life.

…After two millennia of persecution experienced by Jews at the hands of others, it remains a wonder that a multitude of Americans — almost certainly many millions — ardently embrace their own version of [Benjamin] Disraeli's dictum, that God will treat America as it treats the Jews.

What this means is that the debates suffusing the halls of academia and Congress regarding Israel, and the place of Jews in American society, tell us even more about Gentiles than about Jews. It bespeaks two different trends within the West, and two very different possibilities for its future…

This week, the RJC endorsed Bernie Moreno for the US Senate seat in Ohio. RJC National Chairman Norm Coleman said:

RJC congratulates and is proud to endorse the next US Senator from the great state of Ohio, Bernie Moreno. Tonight, Republicans from across the Buckeye State selected a conservative American success story as their choice to challenge 50-year career politician Sherrod Brown.

The contrast between Bernie Moreno and Sherrod Brown is stark.

Bernie Moreno is a true political outsider. Sherrod Brown has been in elected office since 1974 and votes with Joe Biden 98 percent of the time.

...Bernie Moreno wants to secure the border, stop amnesty, and destroy the drug cartels. Sherrod Brown has given book royalties for nearly two decades to a group whose director has pushed for defunding police departments and abolishing ICE.

Bernie Moreno is a proven business leader. Sherrod Brown illegally claimed multiple owner-occupancy tax credits and failed to pay his taxes on time on his Cleveland home seven times since 2013.

The choice is clear. RJC looks forward to turning out Jewish voters in Ohio, from Cleveland to Columbus to Cincinnati, for Bernie Moreno this November.

Don't blame Israel for the surge in antisemitism

Jonathan Tobin writes, "The problem with the attempt to blame Israel for the targeting of American Jews is more fundamental. As in every past outbreak of antisemitism, the cause is never anything the Jews do or don't do. Jews have been hated for being rich and for being poor; for assimilating and for standing apart. But the attempt to look within for the reason why Jews are hated is always a fool's errand. Antisemitism is always about the antisemites."

Biden and Sullivan should stand firmly behind Israel's war aims

Shoshana Bryen writes that President Joe Biden and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, "The guys who brought you the deadly, disastrous US withdrawal from Afghanistan that left $6 billion worth of military equipment for the reinstalled and reinvigorated Taliban government," should rethink their demands on Israel regarding the Gaza war. She continues: "The Israeli governments aims are military, they are achievable, and success would ensure the security of the citizens of Israel as well as rescuing the Palestinian people from the brutality of Hamas occupation designed to kill them."

Biden presides over record-breaking 11 embassy evacuations

With the evacuation of the embassy in Haiti, the Biden administration has presided over more evacuations of US embassies—a total of 11—than any other presidential administration in US history. They include Burma, Chad, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Nigeria, Sudan, Niger, and Haiti.

Majority in US say Israel has valid reasons for fighting

The Pew Research Center released a report today on a new survey of Americans. They found that roughly six-in-ten Americans (58%) say Israel's reasons for fighting Hamas are valid, while 22% said Hamas' reasons for fighting Israel were valid. Unlike most polling in the United States since the war began, this survey includes enough Jewish and Muslim respondents to allow their views to be analyzed separately. Other findings include:

• Regardless of whether they approve of how Israel is fighting the war, most US Jews (89%) see Israel's reasons for going to war against Hamas as valid.
• 62% of US Jews say the way Israel is carrying out its war in Gaza is acceptable; only 5% of American Muslims agree.
• Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats to favor providing military aid to Israel to help in its war against Hamas (50% vs. 25%).

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