While RJC offices are closed and our staff are teleworking, you can reach us by email or by phone (please leave a voicemail message and your call will be returned). Contact information <[link removed]> for our offices can be found on our web site. Please visit us online for the latest RJC news <[link removed]>, to volunteer <[link removed]> for our 2020 outreach efforts, to see details of upcoming events <[link removed]> (when they resume), and to donate <[link removed]> to the RJC.

— Featured —

















New York Mayor Bill de Blasio



De Blasio’s Terrible Tweet






New York Mayor Bill de Blasio seems to have a talent for making a bad situation worse. In addition to his poor management of the coronavirus situation in New York, the mayor badly mishandled an incident with the Jewish community this week.

On Tuesday night, hundreds of Hasidic Jews gathered for a prominent rabbi’s funeral in Brooklyn, showing apparent disregard of public social distancing guidelines. The funeral was approved and coordinated with the NYPD <[link removed]>, which blocked off streets for the procession. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, such a gathering was unwise, and both the police and the synagogue leaders should have anticipated the crowds.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was reportedly in the area for an unrelated event, personally oversaw the police dispersal of the crowd <[link removed]> and issued an angry tweet in which he addressed “the Jewish community” by name.



The RJC responded to the mayor’s tweet <[link removed]>:

Bill de Blasio’s statement encourages and foments anti-Semitism. To single out the entire Jewish community for the actions of a few is both troubling and disturbing. It wouldn’t be accepted if it were directed at any other minority group. We call on Jewish groups both political and non-political to come together and demand an apology, and more importantly, to demand better from Mayor de Blasio.

The RJC noted that this incident “comes on the heels of a dangerous uptick in anti-Semitic attacks in New York City that de Blasio failed to address.” The mayor’s tweet opened the door for anti-Semites and others looking for a scapegoat to blame the pandemic on Jews.

At Tablet magazine, Liel Leibovitz ladled the sarcasm and anger on thick in his response to the mayor <[link removed]>: 

It’s true that throngs crowd Central Park daily, that in Riverside Park it’s nearly impossible to avoid maskless joggers panting their spit well within 6 feet of you. It’s also true that just yesterday hundreds of New Yorkers stood very closely together to watch the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds perform a flyover tribute to health care workers.

None of these other people are problematic, though—presumably because they aren’t a danger to others. The danger to others—the danger that must be broadcast to the mayor’s 1.5 million Twitter followers and to 8 million New Yorkers, some of which have spent the past few years growing increasingly and violently anti-Semitic—is the Jews. It’s the Jews.

The next day, de Blasio apologized <[link removed]>: 

The mayor said during a press briefing on Wednesday that he spoke out of “frustration” and “anger” after witnessing the crowd himself, and added that he has “a lot of love” for the Jewish community.

While de Blasio didn’t share his apology with his Twitter followers, he did put up a tweet yesterday <[link removed]> condemning an anti-Semitic hate crime that occurred in the city – nearly a week ago. 







J Street Joe





Which Way for Biden?









Jackson Richman of JNS quotes the Republican Jewish Coalition in his article this week examining how much the left-wing group J Street and the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party will have on Joe Biden and the direction of his foreign policy goals <[link removed]>: 

Republican Jewish Coalition spokesperson Neil Strauss told JNS that a Biden administration is likely to be to the left of the Obama administration.

“We know this because the mainstream of the Democrat Party has moved away from its traditional bipartisan pro-Israel stance, leaving the Republican Party as the only pro-Israel party,” he said.

“For proof, look no further than Biden inviting Bernie Sanders’ foreign-policy team onto his campaign and embracing J Street’s endorsement,” he noted.

“The U.S.-Israel relationship suffered greatly during the Obama-Biden administration,” continued Strauss. “By contrast, a Biden presidency would be a sharp and dangerous pivot away from the policies of the most pro-Israel President ever in history, Donald Trump. A risk we can’t afford to take.”

Karl Rove points out Biden’s weaknesses as a candidate in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. He writes <[link removed]>: 

Mr. Biden should be enjoying a bump, having become the presumptive Democratic nominee in dramatic fashion… But Covid-19 has forced Mr. Biden to retreat to his basement to wrestle with his teleprompter and polish his Zoom skills.

…Mr. Biden has difficulty stringing two sentences together and a penchant for saying weird, unhelpful things.

…Mangling sentences and jumbling paragraphs raises questions with voters about whether Mr. Biden is up to the job, but his challenges go deeper than syntax. There’s also his strategy.

The Biden Battalion’s opening shot at Mr. Trump, leveled in a memo from deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield and echoed in millions spent on ads by the campaign and its super PAC, is that the president’s weakness toward China led him to bungle the coronavirus response.

Mr. Biden is leading with his jaw. If the question of this election is who’s tougher on China, the answer will be Mr. Trump. He has spent almost four decades bashing Beijing and devoted the past three years to roughing up China on trade. Mr. Biden has long played down the Chinese economic and military threats.

…Mr. Biden is also vulnerable because of the previous administration’s failure to refill the National Strategic Stockpile’s supply of masks, gowns and other critical personal protective equipment after the 2009 swine flu outbreak. This happened on his watch.























The RJC is committed to reelecting President Donald Trump, keeping the Senate, and winning back the House. We encourage our members to participate in our outreach phonebank project to help Republicans win in November. It's easy, and you can do it from home! Here's how YOU can help: 

- Sign up to call Jewish voters from home by clicking HERE <[link removed]>. 
- Fill out all of the fields.
- Listen to the instructions and write down your username and password when a member of the RJC Victory Team contacts you.
- Make as many phone calls as you can. Everyone you speak to is a potential vote for President Trump and the GOP!

Sign up now and you could be the next RJC Volunteer of the Week!

<[link removed]>

-------

The Republican Jewish Coalition is hiring field staff for our advocacy efforts in support of President Donald Trump’s reelection in various battleground states.CLICK HERE <[link removed]> for details and application information. 

-------

The RJC PAC has endorsed a terrific slate of House and Senate incumbents, and we need them to continue their work on Capitol Hill! CLICK HERE to donate through the RJC PAC portal and show your support for our great candidates! <[link removed]>

-------

And don't forget your RJC/Trump kippah!
Our extremely popular red Trump kippah is now for sale for just $18. This includes shipping and handling. Supplies are limited. 


BUY YOUR KIPPAH HERE. <[link removed]>















— Short Takes —

















<[link removed]>Proclamation on Jewish American Heritage Month, 2020 <[link removed]>

In his proclamation making May Jewish American Heritage Month, President Donald Trump lauded the “talent, inspiration, vision, expertise, ingenuity, and sacrifice of Jewish Americans.” He said, “This month, we reaffirm our commitment to never compromise our steadfast support for the Jewish community, our rejection of anti-Semitic bigotry, and our disdain for malicious attacks of hatred.”

Amb. Dore Gold Receives Nefesh B’Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize <[link removed]>

The Nefesh B’Nefesh organization announced on Sunday that seven outstanding olim (immigrants to Israel) from English-speaking countries will be awarded the 2020 Sylvan Adams Nefesh B’Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize, recognizing Anglos who have made a major contribution to the State of Israel. One of the awardees is RJC friend Ambassador Dore Gold, president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, who is being honored for the global impact of his public diplomacy efforts to defend Israel.









































— Tweets —





<[link removed]>







<[link removed]>





<[link removed]>





































— Events —

RJC Victory Team National Day of Action

Please join us for the upcoming RJC Victory Team Virtual Days of Action scheduled for Thursday, May 7 and Thursday, May 14. We'll continue our calls to potential Jewish voters in Pennsylvania and Ohio, key battleground states of the 2020 election cycle. Click here to sign up and help! <[link removed]>

We look forward to scheduling in-person grassroots events and resuming our chapter activities around the country as soon as possible. Don't forget to check our web site <[link removed]> for updates. 

We also encourage you to check out the terrific content and virtual events offered by our sister organization, the Jewish Policy Center <[link removed]>.





















































-=-=-
Republican Jewish Coalition - 50 F St NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20001, United States
This email was sent to [email protected]. To stop receiving emails: [link removed]
-=-=-

Created with NationBuilder - [link removed]