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As Jewish Republicans gather, Ron DeSantis is a star attraction while Donald Trump Zooms in
LAS VEGAS (JTA) — Donald Trump changed his mind and is ready to speak to the Republican Jewish Coalition. What’s not as clear is how ready Jewish Republicans are to hear from him.
As of last week, the group said Trump had cited an undefined “conflict” in turning down an invitation to address its annual convening in Las Vegas. But that was before he announced his bid for another shot at the presidency on Tuesday, making him the first and so far the only nominee to formally do so, and on Thursday the organization said Trump would speak via satellite.
The star of the conference appears to be Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has a prime speaking slot, as opposed to Trump’s less auspicious slot. One influential conference-goer who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order not to be attached to a presidential nominee too early in the process said DeSantis was his favorite going into the weekend. DeSantis, he said, embraced Trump’s policies, but more effectively and with “discipline.”
The conference is taking place, as it has for years, in the Venetian casino resort, until recently owned by Miriam Adelson, the widow of Sheldon Adelson, who was until he died in 2021 a Republican kingmaker; his endorsement of Trump in May 2016 was seen as a sign that the entire GOP was now embracing the one-time outsider.
The conference is an opportunity for candidates to meet with donors who could make or break their campaigns. As it got underway this week, delegates wandered the halls among the slot machines and crap games reconnecting and checking in; former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was seen rolling his carry-on bag through the lobby.
Organizers said they expected at least 850 delegates throughout the event (the Saturday night dinner usually attracts more), a bigger number than last year, when travel was still depressed because of the pandemic and there were still three years before the next presidential election.
RJC conferences are often the first stop for likely contenders ahead of presidential election years, which is why Trump made personal appearances in 2015 and again in 2019. This conference is drawing national attention; organizers said they had about 100 RSVPs from the media.
Trump’s speaking slot, crammed in during a crowded Saturday-morning schedule, and his remote participation are signals that relations between Trump and the signature Republican Jewish group, which have blown hot and cold, are in a cooling-off stage. (The only other speaker phoning it in is Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, who has a government to form in a distant land.)
Trump’s lies about the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden, and his insistence that his endorsees echo the lies, are seen as a drag on the GOP. Republicans are now openly criticizing him after the Nov. 8 midterms, in which they expected to win the U.S. House of Representatives by a broad margin and retake the Senate, fell flat. Republicans barely retook the House, and the Senate remains in Democratic hands.
DeSantis stood out in those elections for wiping out the Democratic opposition in his state, on a day Republicans fared much more poorly than expected nationwide, losing a slew of statewide elections they thought would be shoo-ins.
DeSantis has the coveted Saturday night slot, sharing it with Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations. DeSantis is already making inroads among Jewish conservatives, and from the start of his governorship sought to prove his pro-Israel credentials, leading one early Cabinet meeting from Jerusalem. Haley, who has not yet made clear whether she is running in 2024, is a star for right-leaning pro-Israel groups for helping to shepherd through changes in U.S. and U.N. policy that marginalized Palestinians.
Trump is squeezed among 12 speakers on Saturday morning, a time when folks are expected to keep it short and sweet. Joining him are a number of speakers either not in contention for the presidency — Jewish Republican congressmen David Kustoff of Tennessee, Max Miller of Ohio and George Santos of New York — or long-shots such as South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and also-rans whom Trump annihilated in 2016, including Christie and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. (Miller and Santos are freshman Trump endorsees who have embraced Trump’s election denialism; Santos was at the Jan. 6 protests.)
Opening the conference Friday night are four speakers, three of whom have notably separated themselves from Trump: former Vice President Mike Pence, who has said this week that he and Trump no longer speak and that he remains angry at the president for not stopping the angry mob that called for Pence’s death during the deadly Jan. 6, 2001 insurrection; Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a consistent opponent of Trump since 2015; and Mike Pompeo, Trump’s secretary of state who has in recent days said Trump’s victim act is getting old. All three are seen as presidential contenders.
The conference is open to the public on Friday and Saturday, But it really started earlier in the week with smaller private meetings between the major Jewish Republican donors and others in the party. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has also distanced himself from Trump, spoke privately with RJC bigwigs on Thursday night.
Trump remains popular in some Jewish conservative circles; he was honored by the Zionist Organization of America earlier this month — an event that he attended in person. Trump executed historic changes in Israel policy, among other things, moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, dropping a commitment to a two-state outcome and quitting the Iran nuclear deal. Biden is keeping the embassy in Jerusalem, but hopes to restore two-state outcome ambitions and reenter the Iran deal.
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Long Island town ordered to pay $19M after blocking Chabad synagogue construction
(JTA) — After nearly two decades of legal sparring, a town on Long Island has been ordered to pay a local Chabad center $19 million, settling claims that officials unlawfully blocked the construction of a synagogue on its rabbi’s property.
Rabbi Aaron Konikov and Lubavitch of Old Westbury sued the Village of Old Westbury in 2008, after the village passed a law in 2001 governing places of worship as Konikov sought to build a synagogue on his property.
Local officials enacted the law two years after Konikov planned a ceremony to announce a new building on the land where he already operates a synagogue. They decreed that houses of worship could be built only on plots of 12 acres or more. Konikov owns a 9-acre plot.
In October, U.S. District Judge Gary Brown ruled that the 2001 ordinance “unconstitutionally discriminates against the free exercise of religion and is therefore facially invalid.”
Old Westbury agreed to pay the plaintiffs in the suit $19 million as part of a consent decree, which was signed by Brown on March 18, Newsday reported this week.
“This consent decree may not be modified, changed or amended except in writing signed by each of the parties approved by the court,” Brown wrote. “Each party participated fully in the negotiation and drafting of the terms of this decree, and any ambiguity shall not be construed against any party.”
Kornikov did not respond to requests for comment on Monday. But he may soon be switching into construction mode for his long hoped-for synagogue, for which preliminary plans show a 20,875-square-foot building and an adjacent parking lot.
The $19 million payment will be made by the village’s insurance providers, and Lubavitch of Old Westbury has until Jan. 15, 2027, to apply for a special-use permit from the village to build a synagogue, according to Newsday.
The ruling marks a notable victory for emissaries of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, who have often been met with legal challenges when establishing centers. Last July, the Village of Atlantic Beach in New York agreed to pay Chabad of the Beaches $950,000 to settle a legal battle over the construction of a new community center.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Long Island town ordered to pay $19M after blocking Chabad synagogue construction appeared first on The Forward.
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Iran claims synagogue in Tehran was ‘completely destroyed’ by US-Israeli strike
(JTA) — Iranian state media claimed on Tuesday that a synagogue in Tehran was “completely destroyed” by a U.S.-Israeli strike.
The claim was impossible to verify. Footage of the alleged attack on the Rafi-Niya Synagogue posted online showed open Hebrew prayer books scattered among the rubble of a building.
The synagogue was damaged when a nearby residential building in Tehran was attacked, according to Iranian news agencies. The Rafi-Niya Synagogue is located near Palestine Square, an epicenter of the Iranian regime’s anti-Israel propaganda.
The United States and Israel have been bombing sites in Tehran for more than a month since launching a war on the Islamic Republic regime. Israel emphasized that it does not target religious sites.
Homayoun Sameyah Najafabadi, the only Jewish representative in Iran’s parliament, condemned the attack in a video published by Iran’s official IRIB News outlet.
“The Zionist regime showed no mercy towards this community during the Jewish holidays and attacked one of our ancient and holy synagogues,” Najafabadi said. “Unfortunately, during this attack, the synagogue building was completely destroyed, and Torah scrolls remain under the rubble.”
About 8,000 Jews live in Iran and worship in dozens of synagogues. The war has exacerbated their delicate position, as they are technically granted freedom of religion but face peril if they demonstrate any connection to Israel or dissent against their government. Hundreds of Iranian Jews who have applied for refugee status because of religious persecution are trapped in the country after the United States halted refugee admissions.
The alleged attack comes one day after the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted footage of an undetonated missile on a street, writing that an “Iranian regime missile struck next to a mosque in Israel.”
“A regime that targets civilians and sacred spaces of all religions has no red lines,” the ministry wrote in a post on X. “Nothing is off limits for them.”
On Tuesday, the Israeli prime minister’s office issued a statement about the alleged damage to the Rafi-Niya synagogue. “Iran is firing missiles at civilians, Israel is striking terror infrastructure,” it said. “Missiles on civilians versus precision strikes on terror targets. That’s the difference.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Iran claims synagogue in Tehran was ‘completely destroyed’ by US-Israeli strike appeared first on The Forward.
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Attacker killed in gunfight outside closed Israeli consulate in Istanbul
(JTA) — One attacker was killed and two others injured in a gunfight with police outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday morning.
The consulate has been largely closed since 2023, when the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza escalated diplomatic tensions between Turkey and Israel.
Turkish authorities said they had identified the three attackers in the incident, in which two police officers were also lightly injured. The man who was killed, whom they identified as Yunus ES, had “connections with a terrorist organization that exploits religion,” the Ministry of the Interior announced. It did not identify the organization.
Turkish authorities also did not immediately tie the incident to the consulate, noting that a major bank and other businesses were located closer to the firefight. They said the attackers had driven to Istanbul from Izmit, about an hour and a half away, and had brought both long-barreled guns and pistols.
The U.S. Embassy in Turkey issued a security alert for the area and Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, saying that it targeted the Israeli Consulate.
“We appreciate the Turkish security forces’ swift action in thwarting this attack,” the ministry said on X. “Israeli missions around the world have been subjected to countless threats and terrorist attacks. Terror will not deter us.”
The incident comes at a moment of high alert for Jewish and Israeli sites around the world, with terror threats escalated amid the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. Bombings have damaged several Jewish institutions in Europe, with the latest incident being an explosion outside a pro-Israel Christian center in Nijkerk, Netherlands, over the weekend.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Attacker killed in gunfight outside closed Israeli consulate in Istanbul appeared first on The Forward.