View Email in Browser     Visit RJCHQ.org     Donate     Unsubscribe

This Week:

• Matt Brooks: America's 250th Falls on Shabbat. That's Fitting
• Norm Coleman Appointed to Dept. of War Defense Policy Board
• Keith Sonderling Tapped to Lead Dept. of Labor

• Former Antisemitism Official Ellie Cohanim Named Advisor to UN Ambassador Mike Waltz

• US House Committee Passes Bills to Combat Campus Antisemitism
• Short Takes
• Week's Best Tweets
• Upcoming Events

Norm Coleman Appointed to Dept. of War Defense Policy Board

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth named RJC National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman to be the vice chair of the reconstituted Defense Policy Board. The Defense Policy Board is an advisory committee that provides independent strategic advice and recommendations to senior defense officials. Amb. Robert Lighthizer, a former US trade representative, was named chairman of the board.

RJC CEO Matt Brooks said:

We enthusiastically applaud the appointment of RJC's National Chairman, Senator Norm Coleman, to serve as Vice Chair of the Department of War's Defense Policy Board.

There is no one more qualified to help guide America's strategic posture at this critical moment. Senator Coleman will bring his trusted judgment, decades of policy leadership, and unwavering commitment to American security to this important work.

Under the leadership of President [Donald] Trump and Secretary Hegseth, the Department of War has restored the warrior ethos, rebuilt unparalleled deterrence, and put America's adversaries on notice.

The RJC is proud to work hand-in-hand with President Trump and his administration to keep America strong and confront the threats facing our country and partners.

Congratulations to Senator Coleman on being chosen to contribute to America's security and defense in this meaningful role.

Keith Sonderling Tapped to Lead Dept. of Labor

Former RJC Leader Keith Sonderling has served as acting US Secretary of Labor since April. President Donald Trump has now nominated him to formally lead the US Department of Labor as Secretary.

JNS reports:

Trump announced the nomination on Monday, calling it his "great honor" to select Sonderling, who is Jewish and the grandson of Holocaust survivors, for the position.

… Sonderling, who previously served as deputy secretary of labor and the department's chief operating officer, assumed the acting secretary role after [Lori] Chavez-DeRemer's departure. He previously led Trump's transition team at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and served on the landing team at the Labor Department.

During Trump's first term, Sonderling served as an EEOC commissioner, where he pushed the agency to address antisemitism in the workplace. He advocated for companies and organizations to incorporate education on anti-Jewish prejudice into diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, as well as for faith-based employee resource groups and clearer religious accommodation policies.

The RJC congratulates Keith Sonderling on this well-deserved nomination and urges the Senate to swiftly confirm him.

Read about Sonderling's family and his previous government service here: Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling guided by Holocaust survivor grandparents

Former Antisemitism Official Ellie Cohanim Named Advisor to UN Ambassador Mike Waltz

Friend of the RJC Ellie Cohanim, who served as deputy special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism in President Donald Trump's first term, recently joined his administration as a senior policy advisor to US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz.

The RJC congratulates Ellie Cohanim, a dedicated fighter for freedom who calls out antisemitism wherever it is found. She will continue to make a difference for her country and community at the United Nations.

US House Committee Passes Bills to Combat Campus Antisemitism

The US House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Thursday voted to pass four bills to combat antisemitism both in K-12 school and on university campuses.

The measures included Rep. Randy Fine's (R-FL) "No Antisemitism in Education Act of 2026," committee chairman Rep. Tim Walberg's (R-MI), "Equal Campus Access Act of 2026," Rep. Virginia Foxx's (R-NC) "Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act of 2026," and Rep. Elise Stefanik's (R-NY) "Student Protection and University Accountability Act."

These bills will strengthen protections for Jewish students in K-12 schools and colleges, protect religious student groups at public colleges, increase transparency around Title VI complaint investigations, and bar universities from participating in boycotts against Israel.

Short Takes

Berman: What Zionism Has Always Meant

Zionism is the belief that the Jewish people possess the right to live freely in their ancestral homeland, to shape their future, defend their dignity, preserve their civilization and contribute their values and wisdom to humanity. A Jewish homeland is understood as the primary vehicle for Jews to build a flourishing society, with all its residents, non-Jews and Jews alike, that manifests and broadcasts the core Torah values of human dignity, justice and compassion. The term predates the modern state of Israel by decades. And the origin story of Zionism began centuries before that.

… While the modern state of Israel was founded on the ashes of the Holocaust and served as a safe haven for refugees, Zionism always aspired to be more than simply an answer to or refuge from antisemitism. It was a means of allowing Jews to live to their greatest potential, unfettered by the restrictive, often brutal, experiences of living in foreign lands. Zionism is thus an answer to a 3,800-year-old yearning, not only a response to a modern crisis.

See also: Tobin: The Israel they hate is imaginary

JNS: Sa'ar, Huckabee sign agreement for permanent US embassy compound in Jerusalem

Israel and the United States signed an agreement on Wednesday allocating land for the construction of a permanent US Embassy in Jerusalem. The deal allocates the Allenby Compound in southern Jerusalem—just a stone's throw from the current embassy—for the construction of a permanent complex.

The Trump administration recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017 and moved its embassy to the holy city the following May.

The embassy, which had been in Tel Aviv, relocated the ambassador's office and about 50 staff members to an already existing former US consulate in Jerusalem. It was agreed at the time that an entirely new embassy building would be built in the city.

Jerusalem Post: Israel dispatches humanitarian mission to Venezuela despite frozen relations

An official Israeli aid delegation to Venezuela is expected to depart shortly, in an unusual move given that Jerusalem and Caracas have had no diplomatic relations for some 17 years.

The delegation is being sent after two severe earthquakes struck Venezuela's capital, Caracas, causing buildings to collapse, leaving thousands injured and tens of thousands without homes. It will include professionals from the Foreign Ministry and the IDF, including engineering experts from the Home Front Command.

According to [Ambassador Yoed] Magen, "Our presence sends a very important message, to Venezuela, to Latin America, and to the whole world: Israel, regardless of its diplomatic relations or the ties it has with a given country, shows up when an event like this occurs. We want to assist, support, and help in a humanitarian crisis of this kind."

Or, as Magen put it: "When an event of this kind happens, Israel shows up."

Tweets

Events