Rep. Keith Ellison, Minnesota Democrat, is leaving Congress to run for the office of state attorney general. For those who long wished Mr. Ellison well but elsewhere, the move has had unanticipated consequences. No stranger to controversy, Mr. Ellison has been a Nation of Islam supporter and defender of its anti-white, anti-Semitic leader, the Rev. Louis Farrakhan. Now a traditional Muslim, Mr. Ellison has seldom seen a pro-Israel policy he could support or a piece of incendiary Hamas propaganda he couldn’t embrace.READ MORE
Criminal complaints are now being filed by students following the belligerent disruption of a May 17, 2018 Students Supporting Israel [SSI] event at University of California Los Angeles…The disruption and nose-to-nose intimidation of the students attending the May 17 SSI event at UCLA was documented in a video, beginning at minute 41. Disruptors suddenly and loudly stormed into the room mid-session. One person tore down a flag, demonstratively pulled away a desk placard, and cursed threateningly close to the face of a panelist. With bullhorns, whistles, staged dancing, and slogan shouting, the event was shut down. READ MORE
…The assertion that Israel is the home, not just a home, for all Jews is the core of classical Zionism. It implies that no other country can be a home, even if the Jews living there think it is. The Jews of Andalusia thought they were at home—until Christian rulers arrived and expelled them in the 15th century. The Jews of Germany thought they were fully German until a regime defined by murderous hatred of all Jews came to power. But today, for the first time since the Talmudic era, there are two strong, self-confident centers of Jewish life. READ MORE SUBSCRIPTION CONTENT
…In Palestinian and Arab society, homosexuality is denounced and stigmatized. Homosexuality is illegal under Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip, and dozens of gay Palestinians have fled to Israel out of fear of persecution and harassment….In 2016, Hamas executed one of its top military commanders, Mahmoud Ishtiwi, 34, after he was found guilty of “moral turpitude” — a thinly veiled reference to homosexuality. Ishtiwi, who was killed by three bullets to the chest, would have lived a safe life had he been an Israeli citizen. READ MORE
In an era in which support for Israel within the Democratic Party is waning…strong Democratic Israel allies are as important as ever to a Jewish state that desperately seeks to retain bipartisan support. In New Jersey, three-term Sen. Robert Menendez—the Democratic Party’s ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee—has been a reliable friend to Israel…Come November, Menendez will face Republican challenger Bob Hugin…And while Hugin lacks a deep connection to Israel, he recently visited during the inauguration of the new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem to start learning more about Israel and its security needs, and building his pro-Israel bona fides. READ MORE
…Charles, like all heroes, leads us by his example. In Bret Baier’s extraordinary 2013 Fox News special on Krauthammer, “A Life That Matters,” Charles’ describes his diving accident, and his refusal to dwell on it. His staggering resolve led him to finish medical school on time, while recovering in the hospital, with his lessons projected on the ceiling above. Putting off his studies would have been “fatal,” Charles told Bret. Years later Charles would begin driving again, while sitting in a wheelchair. READ MORE
MERCURY NEWS Marc Thiessen: Unusual place Charles Krauthammer wants to die…Charles delivered an enthralling lecture, which, to this day, is the best expression I have ever heard of America’s role in the world. He dismissed the idea of American empire, declaring, “It is absurd to apply the word to a people whose first instinct upon arriving on anyone’s soil is to demand an exit strategy.” Unlike Rome or Britain or other classical empires, he said, Americans do not hunger for territory. “We like it here. We like our McDonald’s. We like our football. We like our rock-and-roll. We’ve got the Grand Canyon and Graceland. … We’ve got everything
NEW YORK TIMES Bret Stephens: Charles Krauthammer’s Democratic Vocation…Beliefs firmly held in his mind seemed to mingle with bemusement tickling his gut. If the great theme of his work is the defense of what we proudly used to call Western civilization, the great theme of his life is the cultivation of a civilized mind. With every commentary, he taught us how such a mind worked. Charles’s parting letter is, appropriately, about gratitude. “I am grateful,” he writes, “to have played a small role in the conversations that have helped guide this extraordinary nation’s destiny.”
NATIONAL REVIEW Charles Krauthammer in 1998, on Israel’s 50th anniversary: At Last, Zion …It is my contention that on Israel — on its existence and survival — hangs the very existence and survival of the Jewish people. Or, to put the thesis in the negative, that the end of Israel means the end of the Jewish people.
…Ramah’s director said the camps will not give IfNotNow members a platform because of the group’s strident criticism of the Jewish state. “Ramah will not partner with any organization that is not unequivocally pro-Israel,” Rabbi Mitchell Cohen said in an email to supporters and Jewish communal leaders. “Zionism is one of our core educational pillars, and always will be.” IfNotNow, which counts many alumni of Camp Ramah as its members, is furious that their efforts to increase education about the Palestinian experience at the camps has been publicly and strongly rebuffed after what they thought was positive engagement with Ramah. READ MORE
Members of Congress have brought forward a bipartisan bill to review textbooks and other materials used in Palestinian schools that have been accused of promoting extremism. The Palestinian Authority Educational Curriculum Transparency Act — introduced in the House of Representatives on Thursday by Rep. David Young (R-Iowa) — calls on the US State Department to annually verify whether educational resources published by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the United Nations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip continue to encourage “violence or intolerance toward other nations or ethnic groups.” READ MORE
Steven Nasatir, the longtime CEO of Chicago’s Jewish federation, will be moving into another role next year after four decades on the job. Nasatir, 73, is the longest-serving CEO of any Jewish federation. His organization, called the Jewish United Fund, has distributed almost $7 billion to charitable causes since he took the job in 1979. According to Bloomberg, it is the largest social service agency in Illinois. It serves roughly 300,000 Jews in the Chicago area. JUF also reports that its fundraising has increased in recent years even as other federations have seen declining numbers. Last year, it raised a total of $300 million. READ MORE
For most people, American aid to Israel is the measure of the “special relationship” between the two countries. AIPAC, the major pro-Israel lobby in the United States, considers its efforts to secure this aid its No. 1 priority. It was therefore surprising to hear senior Israeli officials in late May complain about American assistance, with one describing it as a drug addiction. Their outburst centers around two innovations introduced into the 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the official name for the American aid agreement, which was negotiated between the Obama and Netanyahu administrations in 2016. READ MORE
JERUSALEM POST Nation’s defense firms to lose over $1b. annually with U.S. aid deal The Israeli arms industry is expected to lose $1.3 billion in revenue each year and as many as 22,000 workers could lose their jobs when the latest agreement for military aid from the US kicks in at the end of this year, the Defense Ministry warned at a Knesset Finance Committee meeting on Monday
ArchitectGuy on Israel 