Uncategorized
Adam Schiff declares Senate bid, paving way for potential continued Jewish representation from California
WASHINGTON (JTA) — One Jewish Democrat wants to replace a fellow Jewish Democrat as California senator.
Rep. Adam Schiff, who rose to prominence during Donald Trump’s presidency as one of the top critics of the former president, announced a Senate run on Thursday. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who is 89 and was first elected to the seat in 1992, has yet to announce she is retiring, but insiders say it is increasingly difficult for her to handle the job.
Schiff, a solid pro-Israel Democrat who gets consistent backing from mainstream pro-Israel political action committees, led the first set of impeachment proceedings against Trump. As the focus of Trump’s ire, the former president bestowed on Schiff a number of insulting nicknames, some unprintable. One of them, “Shifty Schiff,” drew accusations that Trump was peddling an antisemitic trope.
Schiff, 62, took aim at Trump in a statement announcing his run.
“We’re in the fight of our lives for the future of our country,” Schiff said. “Our democracy is under assault from MAGA extremists, who care only about gaining power and keeping it. And our economy is simply not working for millions of Americans, who are working harder than ever just to get by.”
Another California Democrat in the House of Representatives, progressive Katie Porter, has also declared for the 2024 Senate race. Like Porter, Schiff says that a Senate run requires time, and that he cannot afford to wait until Feinstein makes her decision.
“We need to start preparing for the fights ahead right now,” Schiff, a formidable fundraiser who has deep ties among Jewish and pro-Israel donors, said in a donor email after his announcement.
Schiff is well known in his Los Angeles district for championing the cause of Armenians and their quest to have the 1915 massacres in Turkey labeled a genocide. His district has a substantial Armenian-American population, but he once explained another motive, having to do with his support for Israel. “I know what it’s like to be part of a people with affinity for a distant country,” he once told an Armenian-American newspaper.
Schiff was until recent weeks the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. As chairman of the committee from 2019 through 2022, he led some of the most damaging investigations of Trump. He succeeded in impeaching Trump in the House for the former president’s efforts to get Ukraine to investigate Biden in exchange for defense assistance. (The Senate would then acquit Trump.)
The new House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, this week used his privilege to block Schiff and another prominent anti-Trump Democrat, California’s Eric Swalwell, from rejoining the committee.
After serving as mayor of San Francisco, Feinstein became the country’s first Jewish woman in the Senate in 1992. Once a reliable centrist pro-Israel voice, she became a critic of some of Israel’s military tactics in the 2000s.
—
The post Adam Schiff declares Senate bid, paving way for potential continued Jewish representation from California appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
Israel’s Ben-Gvir Visits Flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound
Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir walks inside the Knesset, in Jerusalem, Oct. 13, 2025. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Pool via REUTERS
Israel’s far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Sunday, saying he was seeking greater access for Jewish worshipers and drawing condemnation from Jordan and the Palestinians.
The compound in Jerusalem’s walled Old City is one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East. Known to Jews as Temple Mount, it is the most sacred site in Judaism and is Islam’s third-holiest site.
Under a delicate, decades-old arrangement with Muslim authorities, it is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and Jews can visit but may not pray there.
Suggestions that Israel would alter the rules have sparked outrage among Muslims and ignited violence in the past.
“Today, I feel like the owner here,” National Security Minister Ben-Gvir said in a video filmed at the site and distributed by his office. “There is still more to do, more to improve. I keep pushing the Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) to do more and more — we must keep rising higher and higher.”
A statement from the Jordanian foreign ministry said it considered Ben-Gvir’s visit to be a violation of the status quo agreement at the site and “a desecration of its sanctity, a condemnable escalation and an unacceptable provocation.”
The office of Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said such actions could further destabilize the region.
Ben-Gvir’s spokesman said the minister was seeking greater access and prayer permits for Jewish visitors. He also said that Ben-Gvir had prayed at the site.
There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office. Previous such visits and statements by Ben-Gvir have prompted Netanyahu announcements saying that there is no change in Israel’s policy of keeping the status quo.
Muslim, Christian and Jewish sites, including Al-Aqsa had been largely closed to the public during the Iran war. There was no immediate sign of unrest on Sunday after Ben-Gvir’s visit.
Uncategorized
Netanyahu Visits Troops Fighting Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, Aug. 10, 2025. Photo: ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon on Sunday as military operations against Hezbollah-linked targets continue.
Netanyahu toured forward positions alongside Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, Eyal Zamir, and Northern Command Commander Rafi Milo, meeting troops and receiving operational briefings from commanders on the ground.
Speaking to soldiers, Netanyahu praised their performance and said operations in the Lebanese security zone were ongoing.
“The war continues, including within the security zone in Lebanon,” he said, adding that Israeli forces were working to prevent infiltration attempts and neutralize threats such as anti-tank fire and missiles.
He described the northern campaign as part of a broader regional struggle involving Iran and its allies, saying Israel’s adversaries were now “fighting for their survival” following sustained Israeli military pressure.
Uncategorized
Saudi Arabia Restores Full Capacity on East-West Oil Pipeline to 7 Million BPD After Attacks
FILE PHOTO: General view of Khurais NGL recovery plant in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, June 28, 2021. Picture taken June 28, 2021. REUTERS/Mohammed Benmansour./File Photo
Saudi Arabia has restored full oil pumping capacity through the East-West pipeline to about seven million barrels per day, it said on Sunday, days after providing an assessment of damage on its energy sector from attacks during the Iran conflict.
The ministry said energy facilities and the pipeline affected by attacks during the conflict have recovered and restored operational capacity.
Saudi did not specify who launched the attacks, but the kingdom has intercepted many Iranian missiles and drones in recent weeks.
The strikes also disrupted operations at key oil, gas, refining, petrochemical and electricity sites in Riyadh, the Eastern Province and Yanbu Industrial City.
OUTPUT RECOVERY TO HELP SUPPLY CONTINUITY
Saudi said on Thursday the attacks had cut its oil production capacity by around 600,000 barrels per day and throughput on its East-West Pipeline by about 700,000 bpd.
The East-West Pipeline has been Saudi Arabia’s only crude export route amid the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Iran attacked the pipeline just hours after the ceasefire was agreed.
The ministry said it recovered affected volumes from the Manifa oilfield, where output had previously been reduced by around 300,000 bpd.
Work was ongoing to restore full output at the Khurais facility, after strikes on it reduced Saudi capacity by a further 300,000 bpd, the ministry said.
It said the quick recovery would enhance the “reliability and continuity of supplies to local and global markets.”