U.S. Politics
“The bottom line is that [he] chose not to stand with his colleagues and speak out, in one voice, against BDS,” said Republican Jewish Coalition spokesperson Neil Strauss. “This resolution did not appropriate a single taxpayer dollar; it didn’t infringe on a single citizen’s civil rights.”
Foreign Minister Israel Katz will present a proposal to designate the transfer of embassies to Jerusalem as a “national, diplomatic and strategic objective of the highest order.”
Among the various contradictions implicit in the presidency of Donald Trump, outspoken antagonism from within the Jewish community has been among the most pronounced trends, despite Trump’s record of policies supporting and strengthening the State of Israel.
The final tally in the Vilnius city council decision to change the name of Kazio Skirpos Street was 21-16.
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) defended her vote condemning the anti-Israel BDS movement—a split from the so-called “Squad” that includes Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
“I would like to commend the U.S. House of Representatives for overwhelmingly approving, by a great bipartisan majority, Democrats and Republicans alike, a decision against boycotts against Israel,” said Netanyahu in a video on Twitter.
The two legislative items seek to build the American-Israel relationship and to put the stop on collaborating with terror groups and their affiliates. Both are on their way to the Senate.
“The House voted 398-17 in favor of an anti-BDS resolution written by Democratic Congressman Brad Schneider. That’s a stunning show of bipartisan opposition to BDS and support for Israel,” Democratic Majority for Israel CEO Mark Mellman told JNS.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper “understands the strategic relationship with Israel, and that the alternative is no alternative,” said former Pentagon official Michael Rubin.
A pro-BDS bill by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) was widely seen as a move to push back against U.S. laws banning the boycott of Israel. Co-sponsorship by U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) adds credibility to the resolution, which will likely face stiff opposition in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.
Beijing has previously said that it would defy U.S. sanctions and purchase oil from Tehran, causing U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook to say, “We will sanction any imports of Iranian crude oil.”
“Jew-hatred is Jew-hatred, and it’s evil, and it doesn’t matter if it comes from the ethnic supremacist right, from the vicious anti-Zionist left or from radical Islam. Jew-hatred in all its forms needs to be combated, and it’s my job to combat it.”
