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This Week:

• Dershowitz: I'm a Republican Now
• RJC in the News
• RJC Endorses Senate Candidates
• Israel Through American Eyes
• Democrats' Race to the Edge
• SPLC Unmasked
• Short Takes
• Week's Best Tweets
• Upcoming Events

Dershowitz: I'm a Republican Now

In an op-ed at the Wall Street Journal, Alan Dershowitz makes it official:

I am a lifelong Democrat… have been a registered Democrat for 67 years, made speeches for John F. Kennedy as a college student, and can count on one hand the number of Republicans I've ever supported for any office.

I still disagree strongly with the GOP on abortion, the separation of church and state, immigration, healthcare and taxes, among other things. Yet I've decided to bite the bullet and register as a Republican.

The Democratic Party has become the most anti-Israel party in US history. Last week all but seven Senate Democrats voted for an arms embargo against the Jewish state, and an avowed enemy of Israel, Abdul El-Sayed, is gaining ground in the Democratic campaign for US senator from Michigan.

There is no denying that the hard left, anti-Israel wing of the Democratic Party has moved from the fringe to the mainstream… I believe that the Democratic Party's hostility to Israel represents a deeper and more dangerous shift away from the center and toward a radical approach that is bad for America and the free world.

RJC in the News

RJC Endorses GOP Frontline Senate Candidates

The Republican Jewish Coalition announced Tuesday that it is endorsing four Republican Senate candidates for open seats: Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA), former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), former US Attorney Kurt Alme in Montana and former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley in North Carolina.

The group also announced endorsements of sitting Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Ashley Moody (R-FL), Pete Ricketts (R-NE) and Jon Husted (R-OH), all of whom are up for reelection in November.

See more about the RJC PAC endorsements below.

The Algemeiner's J100 Podcast: The Fracturing Consensus: Matt Brooks on Israel andAmerican Politics

In this episode of J100, Matt Brooks – CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition – speaks about the evolving relationship between the United States and Israel, Party divides, and American Jewish identity. They discuss the breakdown of old political assumptions, the rise of extremism across both sides, tensions on college campuses, and what actually drives Jewish voters today.

Israel Through American Eyes

Josh Kraushaar reports at the Jewish Insider:

Amid the downbeat assessment of Israel's political standing in the US, two new polls that came out last week suggest that the Jewish state still can rely on a sizable, if largely Republican, constituency of support.

The biggest takeaway from these two new polls — one commissioned by NBC News and one conducted by the respected GOP firm Echelon Insights — is that Israel has become a partisan issue, with Democrats turning decidedly against the Jewish state while Republicans have become strongly supportive.

All told, the polls show the public evenly divided over Israel, with the splits largely along party, ideological and generational lines. The results indicate President Donald Trump's embrace of the Jewish state has caused Democrats to take an instinctively more negative view — in a continuation of how politics has generally operated in the Trump era.

Jim Geraghty comments on the Echelon Insights poll, which showed that younger Democrats feel more negatively about Israel than they do about China and Iran.

Democrats' Race to the Edge

More evidence came out this week of the Democratic Party's surge toward the most extreme elements of its base. Even veteran political observers were shocked at recent developments in Michigan.

Michigan Democrats on Sunday nominated insurgent candidate Amir Makled, an anti-Israel attorney, for the University of Michigan Board of Regents over incumbent Jordan Acker, a Jewish regent who had been targeted by far-left activists over his support for Israel, the Jewish Insider reports. Makled has a history of sharing pro-Hezbollah and antisemitic tweets; the SEIU labor union pulled their endorsement of Makled over his support of Hezbollah.

Jewish Democrats at the Michigan nominating convention were alarmed to see pro-Israel voices marginalized and shouted down, it was reported. Defeated regent Jordan Acker told the Detroit News that the level of antisemitism among Michigan Democrats is "extensive." He said, "The question we have to ask as Jews is whether we still belong here."

The problem is not limited to Michigan. David Moraff, a former Democratic Socialists of America organizer, has been a top advisor to independent Nebraska Senate candidate Dan Osborn and Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner. Platner, who is endorsed by Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, is famous for having a Nazi symbol tattooed on his chest and for a history of extremist social media posts.

Matthew Continetti writes at the Wall Street Journal:

Backing America’s closest Middle Eastern ally now jeopardizes one’s future in the Democratic Party. The trend has disturbing implications not only for U.S.-Israel relations but for the future of American power and ideals.

… There is something deeper going on here than a fight over foreign policy. Democrats may be repulsed by Israel’s behavior, but this is really an argument over America. The connection between socialism and anti-Zionism is revealing: Increasingly, one’s attitude toward Israel and its self-defense reflects one’s attitude toward America—its free market, its global leadership, its use of force and its exceptional nature.

SPLC Unmasked

Fox News reports that a federal grand jury in Alabama returned an 11-count indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center this week, charging the left-wing nonprofit with wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The FBI says the SPLC gave more than $3 million to individuals affiliated with extremist groups including the KKK and neo-Nazi organizations and concealed the payments from donors.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said that the SPLC was "manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred."

Money paid to one SPLC "field source" was used to help organize and promote the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlotteville, Virginia in 2017.

The SPLC has come under fire for expanding its definition of "hate groups" to include conservative groups like Turning Point USA, Moms for Liberty, PragerU, and the Center for Security Policy. Now it will be fully unmasked.

Short Takes

JNS: Israel Prize ceremony concludes 78th Independence Day with historic firsts

The JNS reports on the awarding of the Israel Prize, the state's highest civilian award, on Yom HaAtzmaut (Independence Day). The prize is given to individuals whose work has made Israel and the world a better place. This year, for the first time, the prize was awarded to a non-Israeli citizen, US President Donald Trump, who was awarded a newly created category for "unique contribution to the Jewish people."

Jewish Insider: Milei, Netanyahu launch 'Isaac Accords' to encourage Israel, Latin America engagement

Lahav Harkov reports that on Sunday, Argentine President Javier Milei and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched the "Isaac Accords," an initiative to encourage closer cooperation between Israel and Latin American countries. An Israeli diplomatic source told Jewish Insider that Ecuador and Paraguay are expected to join the Isaac Accords. Israeli media have reported that Costa Rica, Panama and Uruguay have also expressed interest. Milei framed the accords as an extension of the Trump-era Abraham Accords model into the Western Hemisphere, aimed at combating terrorism, antisemitism, and drug trafficking.

Washington Free Beacon: Palestinian Authority Has Paid Convicted Terrorists Released as Part of Gaza Ceasefire Deal, State Department Tells Congress

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has paid salaries to convicted terrorists Israel released from its prisons as part of its October 2025 ceasefire agreement with Hamas, the State Department formally determined in a non-public report to Congress obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

…The notice to Congress confirms a similar conclusion the State Department made in January, when it noted that, even though PA president Mahmoud Abbas claimed in 2025 that he had scrapped the so-called pay-to-slay program, his government had still doled out hundreds of millions of dollars to terrorists and their families.

Bryen: Are We Paying Attention to Iran's Strategy?

The common belief is that Iran's original goal was nuclear capability, but the regime has a second strategic goal: the undermining and elimination of political, military, economic, and social ties between the US and Israel, and their allies in Europe but also the Gulf Arab States and parts of South America.

Danielle Pletka: Relatives of America's enemies, terrorists get visas

The military killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in a January 2020 airstrike but for years let his kin live in the United States.

… These nepo children living in what the regime calls the "Great Satan" are the tip of the iceberg. Beneath the waves, and invisible to most, are terrorists' kids, dictators' extended families and kleptocrats' scions enjoying the rights and privileges of the US.

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