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Florida state senator Randy Fine, a Jewish Republican, won the special election for Florida's 6th Congressional District on Tuesday. He was sworn in the next day and is now the fourth Jewish Republican member of the 119th Congress.

RJC National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman and CEO Matt Brooks said

The RJC is gratified to have been the first organization to host a major fundraising event for Randy Fine immediately following his campaign launch. The RJC Victory Fund also made a significant financial contribution to help secure Randy's decisive win.

…The Republican Party continues to elevate Jewish American voices. That is why, election after election, more and more Jewish voters are moving to the GOP.

Jacob Kornbluh reports at the Forward:

Republican Jews are exhilarated. The election of Randy Fine to an open House seat in central Florida has brought the number of Republican Jews to its highest level in over 40 years.

Fine, a Florida state representative, received at least 54% of the vote, and has been declared the winner by the Associated Press, beating Democrat Josh Weil, a former math teacher, in the special election to replace Mike Waltz, who became the national security adviser.

The Republican Jewish Coalition congratulated Fine in a statement. "We saw Randy's commitment firsthand when he campaigned alongside RJC in key battleground states, going door-to-door, to deliver victory for President Trump in the 2024 election," the RJC said.

… Fine will join Reps. Max Miller of Ohio, David Kustoff of Tennessee and Craig Goldman of Texas... Just a decade ago, Lee Zeldin, who now serves as Trump's EPA administrator, was the sole Jewish Republican member of Congress, following the departure of Eric Cantor in 2014.

Congratulations to Congressman Fine! The RJC looks forward to working closely with him in the years ahead.

The Jewish Insider interviewed Dave McCormick, the new GOP Senator from Pennsylvania, who is becoming a leading voice in the fight against antisemitism and in support of Israel in the Senate. McCormick plans to visit Israel in May with a congressional delegation. He last visited Israel as a candidate; in January 2024, he and his wife met with government and military officials, visited Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and met with families of hostages taken during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

The Jewish Insider reports:

"I think you can draw a line that's not too hard to follow from what was happening in Gaza and the people funding, to the agitation, the agitators on campus. That thinking allowed me to take a very hard line on it," McCormick said.

"The maddening thing about it was that it was all in violation of the law and campus policy. This was not like a college president wringing their hands saying, what's the right thing to do? The actual regulation on campus, the law in the city of Philadelphia was very clear that this was in violation, but yet they didn't enforce it."

…On the foreign policy front, McCormick has emerged as one of the GOP's most outspoken pro-Israel voices among the newest class of senators. McCormick has aligned himself with President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" sanctions program against Tehran and repeatedly told JI he believes the regime should be viewed with extreme skepticism.

RJC CEO Matt Brooks was quoted in a New York Times story about the Trump Administration's fight against antisemitism:

"We have to combat antisemitism as vigorously as we can," said Matt Brooks, the chief executive of the Republican Jewish Coalition, adding that with President Trump in office, there is "a new sheriff in town."

RJC Communications Director Sam Markstein was quoted in the Washington Reporter's scoop story on new legislation to complement President Donald Trump's maximum pressure campaign on Iran:

Iran is in for a rude awakening between the maximum pressure campaign President Donald Trump rolled out and a new tranche of legislation the Republican Study Committee (RSC) unveiled this week. The actions come after four years of President Joe Biden and his administration failing to confront Iran and its radical Islamic leaders.

[The RSC has] rolled out its “Enforcing Maximum Pressure: Holding Iran Accountable” initiative, which includes the “toughest Iran sanctions package proposed by Congress,” according to the lawmakers.

…The RSC’s work quickly found fans outside of Congress. The Republican Jewish Coalition’s (RJC) Sam Markstein told the Reporter that “the RJC applauds Republican-led efforts to reinstitute maximum pressure on the terrorist regime in Iran.”

“While the last administration appeased and enriched Tehran, the Trump administration and GOP majorities in Congress are working diligently to isolate and bankrupt the mullahs so they are unable to continue funding their malign activities in the region, which threaten the interests of the United States and our allies,” they continued.

JNS: Senate committee advances Huckabee nomination for envoy to Israel

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted on Wednesday to advance Mike Huckabee's nomination to be the next US ambassador to Israel. Every Republican on the committee backed the former Arkansas governor, while every Democrat opposed him. Huckabee's nomination will now proceed to the full Senate, which has yet to schedule a vote.

Times of Israel: Ex-hostage Amit Soussana receives US's International Woman of Courage Award

Former hostage Amit Soussana was one of eight women from around the world who received the International Woman of Courage Award from the US State Department on Tuesday, at a ceremony in Washington. First Lady Melania Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio presented the award to Soussana, who gave the keynote remarks at the event.

"I accept this award, not for myself, but in the name of all the brave women of Israel, the women who endure, who led, who refused to break. Women are stronger. We are the stronger gender, not because we do not feel pain, but because we rise from it, because we fight — not just for ourselves, but for those who cannot fight for themselves," she said in her remarks.

Editor's note: The award "recognizes women from around the world who have demonstrated exceptional courage, strength, and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, and the empowerment of women and girls, and more, often at great personal risk and sacrifice," according to the State Department.

Murray: If War Came, Would You Fight?

Since the horrifying Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, journalist Douglas Murray has spent a great deal of time in Israel. He has met with Israeli soldiers, survivors of the Hamas atrocities, and even some of the terrorists who committed them. In his new book, On Democracies and Death Cults, which comes out on April 8, Murray writes about his time in Israel during the first year of the war. The Free Press has published an excerpt in which Murray reflects on witnessing both the very best and very worst of humanity.

Listening to 10/7 Survivors

As former hostages of Hamas and other survivors of October 7 speak publicly about their experiences, we learn more and more of the horrifying details of Hamas' atrocities. It is important for us to hear these brave testimonies. Recently CBS 60 Minutes interviewed released hostages Yarden Bibas and Aviva and Keith Siegel, along with families of Israelis still held hostage.

This evening there is an event taking place at Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, DC with released hostages Keith and Aviva Siegel and Iair Horn. The event will be livestreamed online here at 7:30 pm Eastern.