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White House to brief Jewish Congress members as it seeks funding for antisemitism strategy
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Top White House officials are meeting with a bipartisan slate of Jewish members of Congress Wednesday as the administration presses for funding for key components of its strategy to combat antisemitism, including efforts on college campuses.
Douglas Emhoff, the Jewish Second Gentleman, who is spearheading implementation of the strategy, will join Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden’s top domestic policy adviser, and Liz Sherwood-Randall, his top homeland security adviser, in a meeting Wednesday with 15-20 Jewish lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, a White House official told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
These officials and others have been routinely briefing Jewish communal leaders on the implementation of the strategy, which Biden unveiled in May and accelerated in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, which launched the war between Israel and the terror group in Gaza. The most recent briefing was on Monday, when many Jewish leaders were in town to attend the White House Hanukkah party.
At the meeting Wednesday, the White House will bring up at least two components of the strategy that require congressional funding that administration insiders have accused Republicans of obstructing in Congress.
“Following the update, they will engage in a discussion about how Congress and the Administration can work together to counter the scourge of antisemitism,” said the official in an email.
One of the issues on the agenda, the official confirmed, is funding for the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, which handles complaints of bias at federally funded college campuses. Jewish and pro-Israel groups have filed a series of federal complaints alleging that university administrations have not done enough to counter antisemitism on their campuses. Since Oct. 7, the civil rights office has enhanced its efforts to field and address the complaints.
House Republicans have for months sought cuts to the office as they wrestle with the White House to bring down federal spending.
Liberal groups that see the office as a necessary tool to combat bias and discrimination on campuses have pushed back, and their case gained traction in the swirl of antisemitism controversies on campuses since Oct. 7, with Biden administration officials arguing that the office needed to increase its staff to handle the number of complaints.
“Another way to address the scourge of antisemitism on college campuses is to sufficiently fund OCR and the Department of Ed,” Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a national public policy group, said in an interview earlier this week.
“And there have been efforts by Republican elected officials and others to cut funding for OCR at a time when its work is crucial,” said Spitalnick, who is among the Jewish leaders who have consulted with the administration on its antisemitism strategy.
Another White House funding request related to the antisemitism strategy is $200 million in extra funds for nonprofit security grants, which help religious institutions harden themselves against potential attackers. That amount would be added to the $360 million currently appropriated for the program. The White House official said that this too would be on the agenda on Wednesday.
That request is part of a $106 billion emergency funding request that includes more than $14 billion in assistance for Israel as it fights with Hamas and more than $61 billion in assistance for Ukraine as it repels Russia’s invasion. The Republican-led House passed the Israel component, conditioning it on cuts to funding for the Internal Revenue Service, a condition the Senate’s Democratic majority says is unacceptable. Republicans also want intensified restrictions on the Mexico border before they even consider the rest of the package.
There are 24 Jewish Democrats and two Jewish Republicans in the House, and eight Jewish Democrats in the Senate. The two Jewish Republicans, Max Miller of Ohio and David Kustoff of Tennessee, may be key bridges to the House Republican leadership. Miller, notably, told Jewish Insider recently that he was furious with Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a Republican, for attaching conditions to the Israel funding.
At the meeting with the members of Congress, the White House official said, the Biden team will review its achievements in implementing its antisemitism strategy, including consolidating Education Department protections for victims of religious bigotry; training on identifying antisemitism and Islamophobia across a number of executive agencies; providing training on anti-religious bigotry to students in the agriculture and health sectors; and updating and distributing an FBI hate crimes threat response guide.
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The post White House to brief Jewish Congress members as it seeks funding for antisemitism strategy appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.