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Lee Zeldin, a bright spot for Republicans despite NY loss, won’t seek GOP chair but will assume Jewish GOP leadership role
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Lee Zeldin, the Republican Jewish congressman who mounted a stronger-than-expected but failed bid to be New York’s governor, says he has decided not to run to be the chairman of the Republican National Committee.
But in a sign that he expects to have continued influence despite exiting Congress, Zeldin, who has been the top-ranked Jewish Republican in the country, this week joined the board of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
That means he will play a key role in animating political giving by Republican Jews at a time when the future of the Republican Party is under contention. Zeldin, a Long Island Republican whose strong showing in New York is credited with flipping four formerly Democratic congressional seats there, issued a blistering statement on Wednesday morning accusing the incumbent RNC chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, of a “disappointing” performance during her three two-year terms in the job.
“The grassroots is frustrated, deflated, and defeated,” he said, referring to a string of defeats since McDaniel assumed the party leadership at the behest of former President Donald Trump in 2017. “They are tired of coming up short like what happened again just yesterday.”
Zeldin was referring to the defeat Tuesday in Georgia of GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker, the former NFL star who challenged incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock. Warnock bested Walker in a runoff, becoming the only statewide win for Democrats in Georgia this cycle.
The election season has been a crushing disappointment for Republicans who anticipated a “red wave” of victories because President Joe Biden remains unpopular. Instead, Democrats gained a seat in the Senate and maintained control of the chamber; lost the U.S. House of Representatives to Republicans, but barely; and kept a number of governorships that were seen as vulnerable, flipping a number of state legislatures in the process.
On McDaniel’s watch, Republicans also lost the presidency and the Senate in 2020, and the House in 2018.
Zeldin said he was not running because McDaniel’s reelection was “baked in”; she is believed to have the support of at least 100 of the 168 party officials who comprise the voting membership of the RNC.
Zeldin said he has the support of the party’s grassroots, although how he made that assessment is not clear. He also has said that Republican donors would be more likely to give if he were elected and recently named two to the New York Post: Blackstone Group chairman Stephen Schwartzman and steel magnate Andrew Sabin. Both are Jewish. Ronald Lauder, the cosmetics heir and the president of the World Jewish Congress, poured millions into Zeldin’s gubernatorial bid.
Zeldin in his statement said there still was time for McDaniel to withdraw from the race before the election early next year and suggested he would consider running were she to do so.
“The better path forward would be for Chairwoman McDaniel to listen to and respect the wishes of the actual grassroots voters of our party, and allow the RNC to forge ahead with new leadership,” he said. “Her greatest service to the Republican Party at this time would be to make room for a new Chair.”
Both McDaniel and Zeldin were seen as close to Trump. Zeldin was on the team that defended the former president during one of his impeachment trials and also voted not to certify Biden’s election after Trump’s lies about the election results spurred a deadly insurrection at the Capitol.
Zeldin distanced himself from Trump during the gubernatorial election, not appearing with him in a state where Trump, although a native, is deeply unpopular. Now, Republicans are blaming Trump and his insistence on loyalty to his false claims about the 2020 election for their poor performance. Zeldin did not mention Trump in his statement.
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Jeffries Ends the Suspense, Endorses Mamdani in NY Mayor’s Race
Zohran Mamdani, a New York City mayoral candidate, speaks on Primary Day at a campaign news conference at Astoria Park in Queens, New York, United States, on June 24, 2025. Photo: Kyle Mazza vis Reuters Connect.
US Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, a top elected Democrat in the US Congress, on Friday endorsed Zohran Mamdani in the race for mayor of New York City, four months after the New York State assemblyman won the Democratic Party nomination.
The long delay in the House Democratic leader’s embrace of the 33-year-old self-described democratic socialist came after a steady stream of questions from journalists on whether he ever would go to bat for Mamdani, and as Republicans keep asserting that Democrats are too far-left for the nation.
“I deeply respect the will of the primary voters and the young people who have been inspired to participate in the electoral process,” Jeffries said in a statement. “Zohran Mamdani has relentlessly focused on addressing the affordability crisis and explicitly committed to being a mayor for all New Yorkers,” he said.
Jeffries’ Brooklyn congressional district is part of New York City.
His endorsement of Mamdani, who shocked political observers on June 24 with a convincing victory in the mayoral primary, comes just 11 days before the city’s November 4 general election.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, also of New York, has so far withheld any endorsement in the mayoral race.
Mamdani is running against a field of candidates that includes former Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, who opposed him in the Democratic primary and is now running as an independent.
Republican President Donald Trump has called Mamdani a “communist” and has hinted that he might deploy the National Guard to New York if he becomes mayor.
Republicans in the deeply divided US Congress have taken cues from Trump and used terms such as “communists,” “socialists” and “Marxists” in an attempt to paint even less liberal Democrats as being out of step with the national electorate.
Next month’s New York City election, along with governors’ elections in Virginia and New Jersey, are being closely watched as possible indicators of each party’s prospects in 2026.
Midterm elections next year will determine whether Republicans hold onto their narrow majorities in the House and Senate, with many races already shaping up.
Jeffries said Mamdani has pledged to make public safety of New York’s large Jewish community a priority amid “a startling rise in antisemitic incidents.” Progressives and moderates within the Democratic Party have often been at odds over US policy toward Israel and its massive bombing campaign of Gaza over a two-year period, triggered by an attack within Israel by Hamas.
On Thursday, New York Mayor Eric Adams, who is not running for re-election, endorsed Cuomo in a move seen as attempting to undercut Mamdani.
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Netanyahu, Rubio Discuss Implementation of Gaza Ceasefire as Top US Diplomat Rounds Off One-Day Trip
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, Feb. 16, 2025. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday as the top US diplomat concluded his brief visit to Israel.
They discussed the outcomes of the visit and reaffirmed “the deep and enduring partnership between Israel and the United States,” according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office.
Netanyahu thanked Secretary Rubio for his steadfast support and for his “commitment to strengthening the US-Israel alliance during these challenging times.”
The Prime Minister and The Secretary of State emphasized their shared commitment to continue close cooperation to advancing the common interests and values that unite the United States and Israel, first and foremost, the return of the remaining deceased hostages and the disarming Hamas and demilitarization of Gaza.
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New book by Carol Matas to be the centrepiece of upcoming Jewish Heritage Centre Kristallnacht program
By MYRON LOVE Belle Jarniewski, the executive director of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, has high praise for Carol Matas’s newest book, ”A Storm Unleashed,” which is scheduled to be launched on Monday, November 10, at 7:00 P.M. at the Campus (in the multipurpose room) as part of our community’s annual commemoration of Kristallnacht – that infamous day in November, 1938, when the Nazis launched their first co-ordinated physical assault on Germany’s Jewish population.
Jarneiewski described the new novel as “striking” and a welcome new addition to Holocaust education in the school system.
Matas will be discussing her new novel on Novemebr 10 in conversation with Jarniewski and Holocaust educator Kelly Hiebert.
According to the author, “A Storm Unleashed” is the story of the Nazis’ little-studied dog breeding and training program. “I came across this program while doing research for an earlier book,” she says. “The program produced over 200,000 dogs who were instrumental in helping the Nazis with the round-ups, getting Jews onto the trains and in cowing prisoners in the concentration and death camps.”
As with most of Matas’s books, the central character is a teenager – 13-year-old Mia – who is living with her widowed Jewish father and her dog, Max, in Berlin. (Her mother wasn’t Jewish.) Her father happens to be a veterinarian who is pulled into this training program,” Matas notes.
Considered a “Mishlinge” (a child of one “Aryan” parent and a second Jewish parent), the novel traces Mia’s story from a happy childhood to the day-to-day nightmare that characterized Nazi Germany.
Carol Matas is another of many hidden gems in our community. In a writing career that is approaching 50 years, “A Storm Unleashed” is her 50th book. She is quietly introducing her 51st book, “Kai and the Golem,” with a reading to Grade 1 to 3 students at Gray Academy.
I first Interviewed Carol more than 45 years ago – for an article in the Jewish Post. As I recall, she had been an in-demand actor who started writing to fill her time between acting assignments. After her children were born, she retired from acting and devoted herself entirely to writing because it was a way to remain creative while at home raising children.
Her first books were in the science fiction genre. She soon began exploring issues of antisemitism and Jewish history with a focus on teenage Jewish main characters, written for a younger readership. In that earlier interview, she noted that her books were centered around Jewish themes.
In recent years. she reports, “she has been working with a new genre – picture books. “I worked with a mentor and learned a lot,” she says. “ I also have finished a dystopian novel about a world where all the Jews have been removed. One young girl slowly starts to uncover her Jewish heritage.
“I don’t have a publisher for that one yet.”
Matas says that she is happy to be able to continue writing. “I still enjoy it,” she concludes. “And I very much want to contribute to Holocaust education for young people. I think that that is very important.”
Interested readers can register for the Kristallnacht program by going online at jewishheritage@jhcwc.org or by phoning 204 477-7460. Proceeds from the sale of the book will go toward Holocaust education.