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The Dates for Our Upcoming RJC Leadership Summit Have Changed
Previous dates: November 6–8, 2026 New dates: August 30–September 1, 2026We made this change to hold the Summit before the midterm elections, to give our members a chance to connect, strategize, and head into election season energized and prepared. Join us for an outstanding event!
Register at RJCVEGAS.COM.
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(Canva AI) |
Greenblatt: The US-Iran Deal Draws Skepticism But Requires Open Eyes |
Jason D. Greenblatt, former White House Middle East envoy in the first Trump administration, writes at Newsweek: |
I spent three years watching the gap between what the public saw and what was actually happening behind closed doors, and I learned that the view from outside the room almost always misses things the people inside knew or were reaching for. Fairness requires I hold myself to the same standard now. … I cannot talk myself out of how this MOU sits with me. It sits heavily. But on my other shoulder sits something I cannot dismiss either. [Donald] Trump has done more on the Iran file than any of his predecessors, delivered more for Israel's security across two terms and more to build the Gulf relationship into something durable and strategically serious. He created this moment, having severely weakened Iran economically and militarily. Trump made clear, and [JD] Vance reiterates, that they will not allow Iran to rebuild that position without evidence of real change. He has broken through walls that the foreign policy establishment insisted could not be moved. That record does not come close to dissolving my unease, but Trump's actions over years have built something that deserves to be watched with open eyes, rather than written off before the facts are in. And those facts will not be found in the text of this MOU. They will be found in what Iran actually does in the weeks and months ahead, and in how Trump responds to that. … I have no more visibility into what was weighed to get to this MOU than anyone not directly involved. The right posture is clear: open eyes, skeptical but not reactive, clear-eyed but not naive. Fair criticism is warranted. Premature conclusions are not. I will judge by what actually unfolds.
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RJC National Political Director Sam Markstein appeared on Newsmax this morning to discuss the radical winners of the Democratic primaries in New York. (X.com/RJC) |
Mamdani-Backed DSA Radicals Win Key NY Primaries |
On Tuesday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s endorsed candidates prevailed in three key congressional primary races over opponents more closely associated with the Democratic establishment. Their wins show the growing power of the radical socialist wing of the Democratic Party, specifically candidates and elected officials aligned with Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). While party leaders like Sen. Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries put on a show of unconcern, the next Congress will include people who hate Israel, establishment Democrats, and the United States. Politico reports: |
Brad Lander, a former city comptroller, ousted Rep. Dan Goldman in a turbulent race between two Jewish Democrats. Lander, the progressive challenger and self-styled "liberal Zionist," made it a referendum on their differences over Israel — hammering the incumbent for not supporting legislation to block arms sales to the US ally and for refusing to call its war in Gaza a genocide. Democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier toppled powerful Rep. Adriano Espaillat, whom she had relentlessly attacked for accepting donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Another democratic socialist, state lawmaker Claire Valdez, is on track to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez after criticizing her chief rival for taking too long to use the term "genocide"… The results paint a picture of a Democratic Party rapidly shifting on an issue that was once considered a bipartisan prerequisite for success in the Big Apple and beyond. Progressives' victories show that harsh criticism of Israel is now not only politically survivable, but can be advantageous in New York City's dominant party. |
All three are in "solid Democrat" districts. Read more about the three NY socialists on their way to Congress here. A separate Politico report notes that national Democratic Socialists of America leaders "are already plotting their next act: making sure one of their own is on the presidential primary debate stage, whether the [Democratic] party wants them or not." Click here to watch: RJC National Political Director Sam Markstein appeared on Newsmax's "Wake Up America" program this morning to discuss the radical winners of the Democratic primaries in New York and the future of the Democratic Party and the Jewish community. |
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RJC in the News |
JNS: Republican Jewish Coalition urges trust in Trump's decision to sign US-Iran deal |
Following backlash against the announcement of a US memorandum of understanding with Iran on Wednesday, the Republican Jewish Coalition urged the American Jewish community to trust US President Donald Trump as negotiations toward a final agreement continue. …The RJC leaders said they would judge any agreement based on "concrete, verifiable Iranian actions," while remaining "deeply skeptical that the Islamic Republic has a genuine interest in peace or will abandon its Islamist, hegemonic, malign ambitions in the region." |
Times of Israel: Jewish groups push back against Trump's Iran deal — but for now more quietly than in 2015 |
"Trust President Trump," the Republican Jewish Coalition told its followers Thursday, becoming the most notable Jewish group to support the US president's memorandum of understanding. "President Trump has earned the trust of the Jewish community as he and his team work towards a final agreement," RJC CEO Matt Brooks and chair Norm Coleman said in a statement. …The RJC cautioned, however, that "a final deal must avoid the flaws that doomed Obama's," specifying that there should be "no sunset clauses" on Iran's nuclear program and other proposals.
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i24News: Republican Jewish Coalition praises Trump's Iran strategy, voices skepticism on final deal |
The Republican Jewish Coalition praised President Trump's handling of Iran following the signing of the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, while voicing skepticism that Tehran will follow through on a final deal. RJC National Chairman Fmr. Senator Norm Coleman and CEO Matt Brooks said in a statement that Trump "has advanced American interests in the Middle East like no President before him," crediting Operation Midnight Hammer and Operation Epic Fury with having "obliterated the Iranian regime's nuclear enrichment capability, degraded its missiles and drones, crippled its navy and air force, and eliminated commanders with American blood on their hands." …Nevertheless, moving forward, the RJC said the MoU will be judged on Iranian actions, as they are skeptical over whether Iran is genuinely interested in peace. They say a final agreement must include zero nuclear enrichment, the removal of their uranium stockpile, binding limits on missiles and drones, and an end to spreading terrorism.
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JNS: Lander routs Goldman in New York's 10th District |
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani backed [Brad] Lander. The mayor issued a tepid comment after the owner of a coffee shop returned [Dan] Goldman's money and said that he wouldn't accept the congressman's business because he has supported the Jewish state. Sam Markstein, national political director at the Republican Jewish Coalition, told JNS that "there is only one party where supporting Israel doesn't get you run out of office, or the coffee shop." "Dan Goldman is no friend of ours, and yet he is being run out of his own party over support for the Jewish state," Markstein said. "That tells you everything about where the Democrats' party base is."
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NY Post: Hegseth: We must spend big on defense to save America's economic might
[T]he single greatest threat to America's national security today is under-investment in military spending. If America loses its unquestioned military edge, no amount of fiscal austerity can maintain this nation's economic health. That's why President Donald Trump's proposed $1.5 trillion fiscal year 2027 defense budget, a generational investment in cutting-edge military advantage, is my department's No. 1 priority. … For decades the Pentagon has quietly underwritten the foundation of American prosperity — from the dominance of the US dollar to the stability of borrowing costs to the protection of global trade. …It's prosperity through strength, and the economic consequences of having the world's strongest military safeguard economic stability, predictability and American advantage are almost endless. |
Jewish Insider: Antisemitism envoy Kaploun says his office helped catch mastermind of antisemitic attacks in Europe
Ambassador Yehuda Kaploun, the Trump administration's special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, said on Monday that his office, under President Donald Trump, had been given a broader remit across the federal government, including assisting in the recent arrest and indictment of an alleged mastermind of attacks on Jewish communities in Europe and the US. |
Jerusalem Post: Mossad rehearsed 2018 Iran nuclear archives raid in Africa, former chief Yossi Cohen reveals
Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen has revealed for the first time that Africa was the geographic area where spies from his agency carried out their "dress rehearsal" for the now famous operation in which they broke into Iran's secret nuclear archives in January 2018. The operation changed the course of history, as it was the impetus for then-first-term US President Donald Trump to pull out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal - shortly after the operation's results were revealed in spring 2018. |
Tzioni: What George Washington Really Said to the Jews of Newport
Eldad Tzioni points to a key line in President George Washington's 1790 letter to the Jews of Newport, Rhode Island: "It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights." Tzioni notes that America was bult on the idea that rights are inherent, not granted by anyone else. "[Rights] were inherent. They were structural features of the republic itself, not gifts from the dominant culture." He traces this idea to the Hebrew covenant at Sinai: "Membership in the covenant community was defined by what you accepted, not what you were born into… The law preceded the nation; the covenant preceded the community. "America's founders replicated that structure. The republic they built defined citizenship by acceptance of shared obligation—the Constitution, the rule of law, the civic commitments of self-government—and made those obligations open to anyone willing to take them on, regardless of origin." |
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Annual Leadership Summit Our biggest event of the year has new dates: August 30- September 1. Join us in Las Vegas! Exclusively for RJC Leaders and their guests. |
| RSVP |
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Republican Jewish Coalition
50 F Street, N.W., Suite 100 | Washington, DC 20001
202.638.6688 | [email protected]
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