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The Algemeiner reports on the RJC’s major new initiative in battleground states:

The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) will purchase $50,000 worth of digital ads in key battleground states with the purpose of targeting Jewish voters ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, according to a statement released by the group on Monday.

The RJC, an organization that seeks to build support for the Republican Party among Jewish voters, claimed it would release new ads underlining what it described as the deteriorating relationship between Israel and the United States during the Biden administration. The ads suggest that US President Joe Biden has undermined Israel’s military campaign in Gaza against Hamas, the Palestinian terror group that launched the ongoing war with its Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.

"As antisemitism spikes to record highs and America’s relationship with our ally Israel continues to reach new lows, the Jewish community is more energized than ever to turn the page from the failures, broken promises, and betrayals by Joe Biden," RJC chair Norm Coleman and CEO Matt Brooks said in a statement.

JNS has more details:

An advertising campaign by the Republican Jewish Coalition seeks to confront Jewish voters with what it calls "Biden’s shameful hypocrisy."

…Coleman and Brooks said the group would release an "opening salvo of hyper-targeted digital ads" to run in "the key battleground states of Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Michigan, targeting Jewish voters by deploying the most cutting-edge data operation in Jewish politics."

The first ad focuses on what Coleman and Brooks describe as "Biden stabbing Israel in the back by withholding urgently needed military aid to the Jewish state as it fights for its very survival, effectively siding with Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah," and putting the more than 100 hostages still being held in Gaza "at risk."

The second ad features footage of Biden from 2019 declaring it "preposterous" to withhold military aid from its Mideast ally, Israel.

Coleman and Brooks conclude by calling for "strong leaders who will stand up for Israel, stand up for freedom, and defeat terrorism. We need President Donald Trump back in the White House."

SEE THE ADS: "STABBING" and "PREPOSTEROUS"

The Hill: Republican Jewish Coalition commits to raising $5M for Trump reelection

A major Republican grassroots Jewish group is pledging to raise at least $5 million for former President [Donald] Trump’s reelection campaign, calling it the organization’s "largest effort" to shore up Jewish support.

The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) on Thursday confirmed it is launching a commitment to raise a minimum of $5 million from its donors and its super PAC RJC Victory Fund, in addition to the organization’s $15 million independent expenditure.

"2024 will be the RJC’s largest effort ever to mobilize support in the Jewish community for President Trump," RJC’s national political director Sam Markstein told The Hill.

See also: Townhall: Trump scores huge donation from unexpected group

Jewish Insider: RJC launches attack ad against Tony Gonzales opponent Brandon Herrera

The Republican Jewish Coalition announced on Friday that it’s beginning an ad campaign opposing Brandon Herrera, the right-wing social media influencer challenging Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) in Texas’ May 28 primary runoff.

RJC’s $400,000 ad buy follows an investment earlier this week by AIPAC’s United Democracy Project, also opposing Herrera, and comes amid an unusually aggressive season of primary involvement by RJC.

…RJC’s national chairman, Norm Coleman, and CEO Matt Brooks said in a statement that Gonzales "has gone to bat for critical joint US-Israel missile defense programs, and is a stalwart defender of the US-Israel relationship," also noting that he’s a leader of the Latino-Jewish Caucus and a bipartisan veterans caucus.

"We need to keep Tony Gonzales working for the causes we care about in Congress," they said. "His opponent, Brandon Herrera, is a goose-stepping extremist who pals around with online Nazis, and has promised to join the ‘chaos caucus’ that has frustrated the efforts of the GOP majority in the House to pass essential legislation."

See the ad here.

JNS: Pro-Israel candidates win key primaries in Maryland, Nebraska, West Virginia

In other states, pro-Israel groups touted the victories of two Republican incumbents, Reps. Don Bacon in Nebraska and Carol Miller in West Virginia, over challengers backed by House Freedom Caucus chairman Bob Good (R-VA).

"Reps. Miller and Bacon are fierce advocates for their constituents and strong allies to the Jewish community and America’s key strategic partner, Israel," stated Norm Coleman and Matt Brooks, national chairman and CEO, respectively, of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

The Bulwark:  ‘October 7 was a turning point’: Trump’s pro-Israel fundraising accelerates

Marc A. Caputo wrote at The Bulwark that President Joe Biden’s turn against Israel has contributed to the shift among Jewish voters toward supporting President Donald Trump in 2024:

[The uptick in campaign donations] jibes with the observations of a dozen Republicans and Democrats involved with Jewish political issues who spoke to The Bulwark for this report and described Biden’s announcement as an inflection point in the Gaza war and in the presidential race. It’s helping Trump consolidate support and tout his pro-Israel record, and it’s also a wedge issue cleaving the pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli parts of the Democrats’ coalition.

…"Given the sharp contrast between Donald Trump, who was the most pro-Israel president in history, versus Joe Biden, who rivals Jimmy Carter as the worst, we are confident that we will continue to make inroads in the Jewish vote for president," said RJC executive director Matt Brooks. "And given all that’s at stake in this election for Israel with the war to eliminate Hamas and defeat Iran, these issues will be front and center in the campaign."

The RJC Spring Leadership meeting in Washington, DC last week featured top speakers addressing the most important issues of the day, including the war in Gaza, tensions in the US-Israel relationship, and antisemitism on college campuses. Our speakers included:

• Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin

• Senator Ted Cruz (TX)

• House Speaker Mike Johnson (LA-4)

• House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (NY-21)

• Rep. Mike Lawler (NY-17)

• Rep. Max Miller (OH-7)

• Dr. Jonathan Schanzer (Sr. VP of Research, Foundation for Defense of Democracies)

• Batya Ungar-Sargon (Deputy Opinion Editor, Newsweek)

See photos and more here.

The Washington Free Beacon reports:

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), chair of the House Republican Conference, promised US support for Israel’s fight to eradicate Hamas during an impassioned speech Sunday before the Jewish state’s parliament, saying that the only acceptable outcome is "total victory" over the terror group.

Stefanik, the highest ranking House member to visit Israel since Hamas’s Oct. 7th terror attack, blasted the Biden administration’s bid to hold up weapons sales to Israel and said Republicans in Congress will fight back against Democratic efforts to sever the historically close alliance between the United States and Jewish state.

"I have been clear at home and I will be clear here: There is no excuse for an American president to block aid to Israel—aid that was duly passed by the Congress," Stefanik said. "There is no excuse to ease sanctions on Iran, paying a $6 billion ransom to the world’s leading state sponsor of terror, or to dither and hide while our friends fight for their lives. No excuse. Full stop."

Stefanik’s remarks highlight the growing divide between the White House, its Democratic allies, and the Republican Party over support for Israel as it fights to finish its war against Hamas and destroy the terror group’s ability to continue controlling the Gaza Strip. The House leader billed Republicans as the last line of defense against anti-Israel Democrats and pro-Hamas agitators who have been fomenting unrest on college campuses for months. "The American people," Stefanik said, "stand firmly behind you."

See video of her remarks here.

Feith & Jabotinsky: Biden’s ‘ironclad’ promises to Israel are hollow

The president’s flip-flop on the war is a reminder that international commitments are only as strong as the character and the interests of the people who make them. In no event are they enforceable — even if written down or called “legally binding."

…Israel should, of course, maintain and cultivate connections with the United States and other powers. But Zionism is, in essence, about the Jewish people taking responsibility for their own fate… Alliances can be useful, but history warns that, when life-and-death issues are at stake, endangered countries should rely no more than is necessary on foreigners. That remains the case when promises of support from abroad come from serious-minded officials, let alone from ordinary politicians who oversell such promises as “ironclad” and then feel free to breach them.

Franklin: Unconscionable US interference in Israel’s war prosecution

The open split been between the Biden administration and the Israeli government as to how Israel should conduct war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip has become a gut-wrenching policy dispute while the goal to expunge the terror organization is still ongoing.

Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s recent public statement, "Israel is not a vassal state of the United States," is evidence of how both pungent and exasperating policy and personal divergence has become.

Adesnik: Hamas casualty lies

Israel has labored mightily to protect civilians, agreeing to steps including ceasefires to deliver food and medical supplies, and to permit civilians to evacuate areas before conducting counterterror operations. But Israel's efforts to protect civilians are frequently given short shrift by major American media outlets, elected officials, diplomats, and "human rights" advocates, David Adesnik of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) told a Jewish Policy Center webinar on Wednesday.

Some of the problem stems from a reliance on data from Hamas-controlled sources of information including Gaza's Ministry of Health. Until April, the Ministry presented its casualty data as the authoritative source of information on the subject. Last month, however, it admitted that its records for many of the war's fatalities included "incomplete" data, and it has continued to revise the data without explaining why. Sometimes, they simply lie.

Kontorovich: The Ugly Lessons of October 7

Hamas’ grisly terror raid on Oct. 7 has proved to be the single most stunningly successful act in gaining support for the Palestinian cause—not among Israeli or American voters, of course, but among top Democratic policymakers, and their counterparts across the Western world. One might think that a campaign of unrepentant killing, torture, rape, and hostage-taking would be disqualifying for a national independence movement. But in Washington, Hamas’ ongoing crimes have resulted in much of the weight of the US government being brought to bear on advancing the cause of Palestinian statehood, and its correlate, the punishment and demonization of the Jewish state.

Gerecht: The Butcher Is Dead. What Comes Next for Iran?

In the 24 hours after the unexpected death of the Islamic Republic’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, the following things happened: the BBC published a headline about his “mixed legacy," the UN flew its flag at half-staff to honor him, and the US Senate chaplain offered a prayer for him on the Senate floor.

Such morally bankrupt responses would shock Iranians who launched fireworks in cities across the country after his death, took to social media to celebrate it, and handed out candy in the street.

USA TODAY: Amid campus protests, organizers with past ties to Hamas support also emerge

[T]op members of [Osama] Abuirshaid’s organization have complex connections to the campus protest movement. And Abuirshaid and others from American Muslims for Palestine were once employees or officials at another group tied to direct financial support for Hamas, USA TODAY found. 

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