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This Week:

• Democrats and the Jewish Community
• Democratic Governors Facing Push from Jewish Groups to Embrace Education Tax Credits
• The First Antisemitism Lawsuit Against a US State
• The Father Battling Palestinian Terror in Court
• Symposium on Antisemitism
• Short Takes
• Week's Best Tweets
• Upcoming Events

Democrats and the Jewish Community

Matthew Kassel reports at the Jewish Insider this week on the troubling shift toward extreme anti-Israel views in the Democratic Party, quoting several prominent Jewish Democrats who are deeply concerned about it:

Amid growing claims of Israel committing genocide as settled fact, openly pro-Hamas demonstrations, ongoing efforts to demonize pro-Israel engagement in Democratic primaries and rejections of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, the political atmosphere is raising questions about whether the party is willing to collectively draw red lines around creeping extremism or if it is now accommodating anti-Israel sentiment that until not long ago had been more commonly viewed as off-limits.

… Sara Forman, the former executive director of the New York Solidarity Network, an advocacy group that backs pro-Israel Democrats for state and local office, said, "The willingness to accommodate absurd assertions about Israel is a cancer that is spreading unchecked" within "the left ranks of the Democratic coalition" in addition to "factions of the Republican right wing," a dynamic she and others attributed, in part, to the polarizing influence of online algorithms that frequently reward incendiary content.

"Right now," she added, "I hate to say we are in an extremely frustrating situation where the identity of the Democratic Party is being redefined, and where a majority of center-left traditional liberal Jews are left somewhere in the wilderness."

… Kenneth Baer, a former Obama administration official who now directs a communications firm, sounded a similar note of caution. "Democrats are running to outdo each other to criticize Israel to curry favor with the massively online left and the interest groups that constitute the party," he told JI recently. "The political dynamics of 2026 may mean this doesn't matter in November, but in 2028 and beyond, running to the extremes is not a political winner."

Democratic Governors Facing Push from Jewish Groups to Embrace Education Tax Credits

Gabby Deutch reports for the Jewish Insider about the pressure on Democratic governors to opt in to a key Trump program for school choice:

One provision of Republicans' sweeping spending package adopted in 2025 — dubbed the "One Big Beautiful Bill" by [Donald] Trump — was a measure that provides a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit for people who donate to approved scholarship organizations that can support a range of education expenses, including private school tuition and tutoring.

Individual states must opt in for taxpayers to be eligible for the credit of up to $1,700 annually.

So far, the policy has been a no-brainer for Republican governors, who already support school choice programs, to allow parents to receive a federal tax credit to support private schools, including religious schools. Twenty-three states have formally opted in as of last month, and at least two other Republican-led states (Florida and Utah) said they plan to do so.

Democratic governors, skeptical of school choice programs and wary of powerful teachers' unions, face a trickier choice. They have to opt in by the end of the year for taxpayers to be eligible for the credit.

Orthodox Jewish groups, who have long supported school choice efforts, are now being joined by non-Orthodox groups such as the Jewish Federations of North America, in calling on Democratic governors to support the tax credit. This program will enhance opportunities for all American families and voters will take note of how their governors respond.

Read more here.

The First Antisemitism Lawsuit Against a US State

Maya Sulkin and Frannie Block report at The Free Press:

A coalition of Jewish parents and civil rights organizations have filed the first antisemitism lawsuit against a US state, accusing the California government of failing to protect Jewish students from a surge of antisemitic harassment, violence, and propaganda in the state's public schools. The filing accuses the state of offering only "toothless remedies" to the scourge of antisemitism through a "glacial and opaque administrative process."

The suit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and the Israel-advocacy group StandWithUs on behalf of several Jewish families. Defendants include a number of state agencies, among them the California Department of Education.

… In the last year there have been many lawsuits filed against universities, accusing them of failing to combat antisemitism and prompting the federal government to freeze billions of dollars in college funding. But now, concern is being raised that antisemitism originates earlier, before students even set foot on a college campus. Elementary school students in Brooklyn, for example, have been taught about the Middle East using a map that entirely excluded the state of Israel, as part of a classroom program funded by the Qatari government. In Queens, a high school teacher had to flee from a mob after her students discovered she attended a protest in support of Israel. In California, under the guise of "ethnic studies," high school teachers are telling students that "Zionists," or anyone associated with the state of Israel, are "oppressors" and settler colonialists. In one particularly shocking instance, students at a high school in Silicon Valley were asked to consider the "Effect of Israel's Bombing of Gaza" on climate change as part of a physics assignment.

This worrying trend in schools is what caused the Brandeis Center to act. The complaint details incidents across more than a dozen California school districts, citing instances of student-on-student harassment and violence, teacher-led antisemitism and biased curricula, and the systematic segregation of Jewish students who complain about antisemitic instances in their respective schools.

Read more here.

The Father Battling Palestinian Terror in Court

Jonas Du at The Free Press writes:

Until last June, American victims of terrorist attacks in Israel had little legal recourse. Then the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) could be held liable for civil claims arising from their sponsorship of terrorists and their families.

One of the first lawsuits seeking to take advantage of that ruling is winding through a federal court in New York City. In 2016, 28-year-old Taylor Force was stabbed to death in Tel Aviv. His Palestinian killer was hailed as a martyr by the official PA news station. The lawsuit, filed in October, alleges that he was "induced" by "the promise of future reward" under the pay-for-slay program.

…I spoke to Taylor's father, Stuart Force, and lawyer Rachel Sebbag of the National Jewish Advocacy Center about the suit and why they believe it is important.

Read more here. The Republican Jewish Coalition strongly supported passage of the Taylor Force Act, which became law in 2018.

Short Takes

Mast: Donald Trump Has Done the Impossible

Since returning to office, President [Donald] Trump has taken decisive action to restore America's standing on the world stage and make it clear that we're done apologizing for defending our interests. America is back, stronger than ever, and we won't apologize for it.

… And when it came to Iran, President Trump didn't blink. In a clear demonstration of American strength and precision, he made the bold decision to attack Iran's nuclear weapons capability. No half-measures. No empty warnings. Just action. His administration has kept up the pressure with strong sanctions that are squeezing the regime where it hurts. President Trump also made it crystal clear that radical Islamic terrorists who threaten Americans will face swift consequences. From eliminating a senior ISIS attack planner to targeting those who plot against our citizens, President Trump has proven that if you threaten America, you will pay the price.

…As the State of the Union approaches, Americans can take pride in this: we have a president who fights for our security, defends our sovereignty and delivers real results. Under President Trump's leadership, America is safer, stronger and more prosperous—and we're just getting started.

Doran: Tucker Carlson and Amb. Mike Huckabee

[Mike] Huckabee entered the studio for what he thought would be an interview led by a man of good faith… But [Tucker] Carlson turned the exchange into political theater—a one-sided grilling framed around the loss of American dignity to foreign priorities.

… A single organizing question ran through every exchange: Does the United States government still belong to its citizens, or does it serve a transnational elite, dominated by the Jews?

… Make no mistake: Carlson is systematically mainstreaming an antisemitic worldview. He has platformed Holocaust minimizers, elevated guests who blame Winston Churchill for serving Jewish financiers and call him the real villain of World War II, suggested Israeli foreknowledge of 9/11, and attacked evangelical Zionism as heresy.

JNS: PA drops UN General Assembly presidency bid under pressure

As this newsletter noted two weeks ago, Palestinian Authority envoy to the United Nations Riyad Mansour applied to be named president of the UN General Assembly. JNS reports today that Mansour dropped that attempt after diplomatic efforts by several countries.

Tweets

Events

The Officers and Staff of the RJC wish you a happy Purim!