Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS
Dmitriy Shapiro

Dmitriy Shapiro

Dmitriy Shapiro is the Washington, D.C., correspondent for JNS.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid told the gathering of some 700 pro-Israel Christian leaders that the Israeli government is “proud of our Jewish heritage and Jewish identity, and equally proud of our democracy and our commitment to liberty and freedom.”
It’s invite-only for 700 of the organization’s leaders and donors, combining the January leadership conference and summertime summit with the opening plenary session to be livestreamed.
“Anti-Semitism is out of control. It’s become normalized. It’s everywhere,” said Olivia Dolgin of Virginia. “It’s in Congress, it’s in the universities, it’s in the school systems. The media is posting lies, distortions and insulting everybody. They have weaponized anti-Semitism.”
They say positions of the Muslim American political action organization Emgage, where Dilawar Syed served on the board, are anti-Israel.
Also in attendance was a delegation of U.S. lawmakers led by House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), making his first trip to Israel in his current position.
“The committee’s appropriation, with no added political conditions, reflects the strong bipartisan commitment to Israel’s security in Congress and the Biden administration,” tweeted AIPAC.
The late former defense secretary’s Bush administration colleagues recall his sense of humor, mixed dynamics with Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell, and influence on U.S. policy towards Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
In 2019, the Trump administration reversed the 1978 State Department legal opinion that Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria were inconsistent with international law.