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This Week:

• Massie's Effort to Strip All US Aid to Israel Defeated; 103 Dems Supported It.
• Passing of Senator Lindsey Graham

• Ro Khanna's Tall Tale of "Armed Settlers" Detaining Him in West Bank Falls Apart

• News from Capitol Hill

• Short Takes
• Week's Best Tweets
• Upcoming Events

Passing of Senator Lindsey Graham

The Republican Jewish Coalition mourns the sudden passing of Senator Lindsey Graham, a great man, a true friend to the Jewish community, a lion of the US Senate for South Carolina, and an American patriot.

In a public statement, RJC National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman and RJC CEO Matt Brooks said:

Senator Graham was a dear friend to the Republican Jewish Coalition. He spoke with our members at conferences and events on many occasions over the years, always with candor, wit, and a genuine warmth that stayed with everyone who met him… Whatever the moment, whatever the political weather, we always knew we could count on Lindsey to stand with us. That kind of loyalty is rare in this town, and we felt it every time.

…As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he helped confirm a generation of conservative judges. As Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, he was a driving force behind major tax and spending legislation.

And especially thanks to his leadership as Chairman of the State Department appropriations subcommittee, Lindsey Graham had an unmatched record as a pro-Israel champion. He introduced the Taylor Force Act and anti-BDS legislation, led the fight to stop Obama’s Iran nuclear deal, and was a key backer of historic Trump administration breakthroughs: moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing the Golan Heights as part of Israel, and the Abraham Accords.

Read the full statement here.

RJC National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman spoke about his friend Senator Lindsey Graham on Newsmax. Watch the video here.

Senator Graham's passing is a loss and a grief to so many. We extend our deepest condolences to his sister Darline, his staff, and all who loved him. May his memory be a blessing.

Ro Khanna's Tall Tale of "Armed Settlers" Detaining Him in West Bank Falls Apart

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) visited "Palestine" last weekend for a staged tour. His group included a New York Times photographer and was guided by a leader of Breaking the Silence, a leftwing activist group that fights the "occupation."

Khanna says that after he visited a Palestinian village in the West Bank, a group of "armed settlers" stopped his vehicle and harassed him and his companions. The IDF was called to the scene, and Khanna says they "sided" with the settlers, ignoring that he is a member of Congress.

Here's the truth: Khanna and his group were traveling in what was believed to be a closed military zone in the West Bank. (Some reports indicate that its status had recently changed, but the people on the ground thought it was a restricted zone.) When IDF troops were dispatched, they called the border police and waited for a police official to arrive. Then the blocked road was reopened, and the Congressman went on his way. (The IDF and Israel Border Police work together to secure areas of the West Bank.)

It took just over an hour for the proper authorities to be contacted, to verify Khanna's identity, and to resolve the situation. The entire episode would have been avoided if Khanna had informed the US Embassy of his plans and coordinated his travel with the Israeli government, but he chose not to do so.

Instead, Khanna added this incident to the narrative of Israeli oppression and violence he had come to create. The New York Times story about the incident begins, "The Israeli settlers had guns and Representative Ro Khanna was scared."

This was a shameful performance by a leading Democratic in Congress who considers himself a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028.

News from Capitol Hill

"Less Bureaucracy, Better Education" Legislative Package Passes in Committee

The Education and Workforce Committee considered and passed a package of 10 bills to begin codifying the Trump administration's plan to right-size the Department of Education and ensure that students, families, educators, and taxpayers are served by a government that puts results ahead of bureaucracy.

Antisemitism Taskforce Chairs: Congress Must Pass Jewish American Security Act

The co-chairs of Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, Sens. James Lankford (R-OK) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) write at The Hill about their introduction of the bipartisan Jewish American Security Act, an historic effort to fight antisemitism and protect Jewish communities in the spaces where they are most frequently targeted — including on college campuses, in Jewish communal institutions and online.

A Congressional Campaign Against Jewish Charities

Eugene Kontorovich and Mark Goldfeder write at the Wall Street Journal that eight Democratic lawmakers have sicced the Government Accountability Office on several US charities that support Israeli communities in the West Bank: Sens. Peter Welch (VT), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Jeff Merkley (OR), Tim Kaine (VA) and Chris Van Hollen (MD) and Reps. Summer Lee (PA), Al Green (TX) and Joaquin Castro (TX). Kontorovich and Goldfeder note: "No US law or policy restricts charitable activities in the West Bank or with Israeli settlements... The legislators who made this request seem to be enlisting the GAO to chill protected activity by charities serving Jewish communities."

New House Bill Would Dismantle and Replace UNRWA

Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) introduced a bill on Tuesday that directs the State Department to work with US allies to dismantle and replace the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.

Short Takes

Rubio: Why We’re Dismantling the International Criminal Court 

The ICC was born at the turn of the century. At first, it was marketed as a narrow backstop to prosecute the gravest crimes. Now the ICC and its allies seek a standing world tribunal with near-unlimited reach, empowered to override the courts and constitutions of the US and other sovereign states—and to prosecute and arrest our citizens.

…The US is launching a diplomatic campaign with a simple message—sovereign states over globalism. Those who benefit from American security must not stand idly by while those who provide that security are targeted. This is only the beginning. Using all the tools at our government’s disposal, working beside every ally with whom we can make common cause, we will dismantle the ICC—brick by brick, if necessary.

JNS adds: According to the State Department, options under consideration include a diplomatic outreach campaign, visa revocations and travel bans for ICC personnel, expanded sanctions on the court and affiliated organizations, and increased scrutiny of countries that continue to support the ICC while relying on US security assistance.

McGurn: Schumer’s Tragedy—and Ours

Chuck Schumer became the first Jewish Senate majority leader in 2021. Democrats lost their majority in 2024, but Mr. Schumer as minority leader is still the highest-ranking Jew in US elective office. But increasingly his greatest triumph is starting to look like his greatest tragedy.

Not because he changed. Because his party did.

… Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary for George W. Bush, conceded to Politico last year that Republicans have an antisemitism problem, which he likened to a "cold." Democrats, he said, have a "fever."

"Democrats will rue the day they turned their back on Israel," says Mr. Fleischer today. "From a moral and political point of view, this is going to hurt them."

… This ought to be Mr. Schumer’s moment. Why is he not calling his party back to its history?

… Today’s party is nothing like the one Mr. Schumer grew up in. Those who regard Israel as a genocidal enemy are ascendant, and though the first Jewish Senate minority leader may cast individual pro-Israel votes, he certainly isn’t leading in Congress on Jewish or Israeli issues.

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