Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

Democrats Turning Against Israel

The Democratic Party is being dragged to the left on a number of issues by the most radical elements of the party. Remarks by Democratic presidential candidates at the J Street policy conference this week demonstrated how far left prominent Democrats have moved on Israel.

The Washington Post notes: 

By Tuesday afternoon, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT); South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg; and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) had all endorsed a position that was nowhere in Democratic politics just six months ago — making military aid to Israel conditional on the country no longer annexing territory in Gaza and the West Bank.

RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks commented to the Post.

Republicans were startled, and overjoyed, when Democrats joined the debate. “We’re seeing a lot of center-left moderates who care about Israel coming over to the Republicans,” said Matt Brooks, the president of the Republican Jewish Coalition. “Look, I’m old enough to remember when George H.W. Bush nearly got run out of town when he floated the idea of linking aid to whether Israel accepted more Soviet Jews.”

There is a push now from the left for the Democratic Party to include the idea of “leveraging” aid to Israel in their party platform in 2020 as well. In response:

Brooks chuckled at the idea of Republicans going along with that. “I think there’s zero chance,” he said. “The contrast between the GOP platform and what will come out of the Democratic Party in Milwaukee will be stark.”

The liberal Democrats turning against Israel say that what they oppose are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies, not Israel itself. But as Jonathan Tobin points out, this ignores the reality in Israel. The vast majority of Israeli voters – and both of the parties likely to lead the next government – support the same security policies that Netanyahu has been enforcing, and which have demonstrably saved innocent lives. Using American aid to punish Israel for policies that protect Israeli citizens is not the way to a reach peaceful resolution of the conflict. 

The fight to keep the proponents of these radical ideas from controlling Congress and the White House has already started. Jewish and pro-Israel Americans must step up to preserve the US-Israel alliance.

You can help by supporting the great pro-Israel candidates endorsed by the RJC. Click here for more information and to donate today.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Trump-Ordered Hit Takes Out ISIS Leader Al-Baghdadi

On Saturday night, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi blew himself up after a team of elite US troops breached the compound in northern Syria where he was hiding and cornered him. Al-Baghdadi pulled three children with him into an underground tunnel.

As trained US military dogs chased al-Baghdadi to subdue him, he detonated a suicide vest, killing himself and the three children. Three members of the assault team, two humans and one dog, sustained minor injuries in the operation. (The dog, named Conan, went on to some fame, in what Thomas Lifson describes as a psy-ops classic move.) 

Watch President Donald Trump’s public statement confirming the raid.  Transcript here. 

The RJC issued a statement commending the President: 

Today is a proud day for the American people and especially the US military. In ordering the mission to find and capture or kill Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, President Trump served justice on behalf of the American people and our allies. Al-Baghdadi was responsible for a global terrorist movement that murdered innocent people of all walks of life. The world is undoubtedly a safer place today.

Shoshana Bryen of the Jewish Policy Center writes at The Daily Wire: 

Now, the implications. Most important for the future of the region and elsewhere, the ISIS concept of a land-based “caliphate” has probably expired.

… There is an emerging thread of political thought in the Middle East that “political Islam” is on the decline. 

… The physical demise of ISIS, followed by the ignominious death of al-Baghdadi, can only enhance a positive trend.

We don’t know exactly how the Americans got in, did their job and got out. And we don’t need to know. What we do know, according to the president, is that al-Baghdadi went “whimpering and crying and screaming” into that tunnel — as cowards do. As people willing to kill, rape, pillage, and force others into the vilest forms of servitude do when it is their turn to pay.

— Short Takes —

For RJC Leader Steven Odzer, staying involved in politics is very important. In this article, he shares why he decided to support the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Bryen: Missing The Point Of The Latest Middle East Protests

Shoshana Bryen looks at the protests taking place in Lebanon and Iraq and sees a deep anger among young people at what the presence of Iran and its proxies have done to their homelands.

US Senate launches bipartisan task force to combat anti-Semitism

The US Senate has launched a bipartisan task force for combating anti-Semitism. The task force is co-chaired by Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), both members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism in the House of Representatives was reinstated in February.

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