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A Powerful Bipartisan Display of Support for Israel in Washington
The US Capitol Building. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
It’s not every day that the Speaker of the House talks about stuffing his pockets with pebbles. But that’s precisely what happened at a dinner in Washington, D.C., just a few nights ago. Speaker Mike Johnson was addressing a room packed with over 300 rabbis and pastors from across the country — Jewish and Christian leaders who had come to the nation’s capital with a shared mission: to advocate for Israel and to send a clear, unified message — when it comes to Israel, we speak with one voice.
With quiet intensity, Speaker Johnson described an unplanned, deeply moving nighttime visit to the Valley of Elah in Israel — the very place where David confronted Goliath. Beneath the stars, he bent down and picked up a few smooth stones, just like the one the young shepherd placed in his sling.
At first, he took only one or two. But then, sensing this was a once-in-a-lifetime moment, he filled his pockets with them. He told us that he still carries a few and occasionally hands them out to people who inspire him. “We all need courage in our pocket,” he said.
Moments earlier, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) had taken the podium. His voice cracking with emotion, he described his own nighttime visit to a high vantage point just outside Jerusalem, from which he could see Mount Nebo in the distance. That moment, he said, changed his life. It brought to mind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final speech, delivered the night before his assassination:
I don’t know what will happen now — we’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!
The following evening, Dr. King was slain by an assassin’s bullet. Senator Booker told us about his visit to the Lorraine Motel — now the National Civil Rights Museum — and the powerful words inscribed on the memorial at the assassination site: “Behold, the dreamer cometh.” The very words Joseph’s brothers sneered as they plotted to kill him. But Joseph’s dreams came true. Those dreams, once mocked, became the blueprint for a nation that would eventually inherit the Promised Land.
Two powerful Biblical images. Two American leaders. One shared commitment. That the Land of Israel is not just geography — it is the foundation of spiritual passion and a divine mission.
With that sacred footing, I joined my fellow clergy — rabbis from Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform communities, alongside Christian pastors from Baptist, Evangelical, Pentecostal, and mainline denominations — on Capitol Hill to speak with one voice, and to lobby for Israel. This incredible gathering of faith leaders was organized by the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition, American Christian Leaders for Israel, Israel Allies Foundation, and Eagles Wings.
It was historic. Never before has such a large, diverse, and spiritually charged delegation of faith leaders descended on Washington with a single, united message: that the Jewish state has the right — no, the obligation — to defend itself against those who deny its very existence and seek its destruction; and that there is a moral imperative to bring home the remaining hostages still trapped in the dark, fetid tunnels of Gaza, after more than eighteen agonizing months in captivity.
We didn’t agree on everything. Let’s be honest — you wouldn’t expect 300 faith leaders to agree on everything. Or maybe even on anything. But for 48 hours, we proved that we all agree on one thing: Israel.
What mattered wasn’t what divided us, but what united us. A shared belief that evil must be confronted. That truth must be spoken. That Israel is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy — and that no force on earth can stop the forward march of history.
Walking through the marble-floored, wood-paneled corridors of the Congressional office buildings, it was impossible not to feel the stark contrast between this moment and a far darker chapter in American Jewish history.
In October 1943, more than 400 Orthodox rabbis came to Washington to plead for action as millions of Jews were being slaughtered in Nazi Europe. They were ignored. President Franklin D. Roosevelt refused to meet with them. No Christian leaders stood by their side. And the press barely noticed.
But just over 80 years later, history is not repeating itself. This time, the White House sent an official representative to the opening event. More than 100 Members of Congress and Senators welcomed us into their offices. And our Christian brothers and sisters were not just present — they were passionate, eloquent, and deeply committed in their support.
To be clear, this wasn’t a partisan gathering. Democrats and Republicans embraced us, heard us out, and stood with us. Something fundamental has shifted.
This week, in every synagogue around the world, we will read the portion of Kedoshim. God commands us: “You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Lev. 19:2). It’s a big ask. Holiness in this world doesn’t come naturally.
But the Hasidic masters — those spiritual giants who reached into the mystical realms — offered a beautiful interpretation. Holiness, they taught, doesn’t mean retreating from the world and becoming a hermit. It means inviting the Divine into the world, so that the world itself becomes holy. To be holy is to elevate the mundane — to ensure that what is sacred finds expression in our lives, in our institutions, and in every corner of our shared reality.
Kedoshim lays out some of the most practical and moral commandments in the Torah: don’t cheat, don’t gossip, don’t take revenge, love your neighbor. Because being holy isn’t about hiding away like a saint in a cave.
It’s about showing up in the world.
It’s about walking into the halls of power with pebbles in your pocket and conviction in your heart.
It’s about standing shoulder to shoulder with people who may not share your theology but who share your values.
And it’s about remembering that holiness isn’t some distant, glowing aura — it’s what happens when you choose to do what’s right, even when it’s hard.
And that’s what we were doing on the Hill. I left Washington with two powerful images in my mind. One was Speaker Johnson’s smooth pebbles — symbols of faith, preparation, and courage in the face of towering threats. The other was Senator Booker’s tearful voice, evoking Joseph — the dreamer thrown into a pit by his brothers, only to rise and save a nation.
Both Biblical stories end with redemption. But both begin with someone daring to stand up and be a believer against the odds. To share the prophecy. To walk into the battlefield. To create a future shaped by faith and salvation.
In the Valley of Elah, David was challenged by his brother Eliav, who saw his presence on the battlefield as an intrusion. David responded incredulously: “Why shouldn’t I be here? Who says my presence doesn’t matter?” He was right.
And in Kedoshim, God tells us: “Be holy.” He’s telling us that everyone has the power to bring holiness into the world — right here, right now.
This week in Washington, those two ideas converged. We belonged there — on the battlefield. And we brought holiness with us: into the halls of power, and through the corridors of influence. For Israel. For truth. For the world. And maybe — for redemption too.
The author is a rabbi in Beverly Hills, California.
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New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’
Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
In a warning sign for the campaign of Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani, a majority of city voters in a new poll say the candidate’s hardline anti-Israel stance makes them less likely to vote for him.
In the survey of likely city voters conducted by American Pulse, 52.5 percent said Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” coupled with his backing of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement made them less likely to vote for him in November. Just 31% of city voters polled were more likely to support him because of these positions.
At the same time, a significant share of young New York City voters support Mamdani’s anti-Israel positioning, a striking sign of shifting generational views on Israel and the Palestinian cause.
Nearly half of voters aged 18 to 44 (46 percent) said the State Assembly member’s backing for BDS and “refusal to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’” made them more likely to support him.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist from Queens, has been under fire for defending “globalize the intifada,” a slogan many Jewish groups associate with incitement to violence against Israel and Jews. While critics argue it glorifies terrorism, supporters claim it’s a call for international solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially Palestinians. Mamdani has also voiced support for BDS, a movement widely condemned by mainstream Jewish organizations as antisemitic for singling out Israel.
The generational divide exposed by the poll comes amid a broader political realignment. Younger progressives across the country are increasingly critical of Israeli policies, especially in the wake of the Gaza war, and more receptive to Palestinian activism. But to many Jewish leaders, Mamdani’s rising support is alarming.
Rabbi David Wolpe, visiting scholar at Harvard University, condemned the phrase with a sarcastic analogy.
“‘Globalize the intifada’ is just a political slogan,” he said. “Like ‘The cockroaches must be exterminated’ was just a housing authority slogan in Rwanda.”
Jewish organizations have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents in New York and across the U.S. since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last fall. The blending of anti-Zionist slogans with calls for “intifada,” historically linked to violent uprisings, has deepened fears among Jewish communities that traditional red lines are being crossed.
Whether this emerging coalition reshapes New York politics remains to be seen. However, the poll indicates that among younger voters, views that were once considered fringe are quickly moving into the mainstream.
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Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events
A Jewish gay pride flag. Photo: Twitter.
The research division of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) released a report on Wednesday detailing incidents of hate against Jews which took place last month during demonstrations in celebration of LGBTQ rights and identity.
Incidents reported by the group include:
- At a Pride march in Wales, the activists Cymru Queers for Palestine chose to block the path and show a sign that said “Profiting from genocide,” an attempt to link the event’s sponsors — such as Amazon — to the war in Gaza.
- A Dublin Pride march saw the participation of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which labeled Israel a “genocidal entity.”
- In Toronto at a late June Pride march, demonstrators again attacked organizers with a sign declaring, “Pride partners with genocide.”
CAM also identified a recurring narrative deployed against Israel by some far-left activists: so-called “pinkwashing,” a term which the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement calls “an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.”
The report notes that at a Washington DC Pride event in early June Medea Benjamin, cofounder of activist group Code Pink and a regular of anti-war protests, wore a pair of goofy, oversized sunglasses and a shirt in her signature pink with the phrase “you can’t pinkwash genocide.”
Other incidents CAM recorded showed the injection of anti-Israel sentiment into Pride events.
A musical group canceled a performance at an interfaith service in Brooklyn, claiming the hosting synagogue had a “public alignment with pro-Israel political positions.” In San Francisco before the yearly Trans March, a Palestine group said in its announcement of its participation, “Stop the war on Iran and the genocide of Palestine, stop the war on immigrants and attacks on trans people.”
CAM notes that this “queers for Palestine” sentiment is not new, pointing to a 2017 event wherein “organizers of the Chicago Dyke March infamously removed participants who were waving a Pride flag adorned with a Star of David on the grounds that the symbol ‘made people feel unsafe.’”
In February, the Israel Defense Forces shared with the New York Post documents it had recovered demonstrating that Hamas had tortured and executed members it suspected of homosexuality and other moral offenses in conflict with Islamist ideology.
Amit Benjamin, who is gay and a first sergeant major in the IDF, said during a visit to New York City for Pride month that “All the ‘queers for Gaza’ need to open their eyes. Hamas kills gays … kills lesbians … queers cannot exist in Gaza.”
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IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo
The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.
Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.
Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.
“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.
Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.
Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“[Grossi] reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” the IAEA said.
The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tonnes of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.
That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.
As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries’ declarations. But the bombing of Iran’s facilities has now muddied the waters.
“We cannot afford that … the inspection regime is interrupted,” Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.
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