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For the Republican Jews whose Vegas confab kicked off the 2024 primary, Trump was always present
LAS VEGAS (JTA) — For Republican Jews looking for an alternative to Donald Trump in 2024’s presidential race, Ted Cruz presented a tantalizing choice on Saturday — at least for a few minutes.
“When I arrived in the Senate 10 years ago, I set a goal to be the leading defender of Israel in the United States,” the Texas senator said during his chance to address the Republican Jewish Coalition conference last weekend.
The crowd packed into a ballroom deep in the gold lame reaches of the Venetian casino complex lapped it up in what some of them refer to as the “kosher cattle call,” auditions for some of the GOP’s biggest campaign donors.
Cruz applied his folksy bellow to phrases already rendered stale by the speakers who preceded him, making them seem fresh. “Nancy Pelosi is out of a job,” he said of the Democratic speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, eliciting more cheers from a crowd relishing a fragile majority in the House, one of few GOP wins during midterm elections earlier this month.
But the onetime constitutional lawyer lost the crowd when he asked everyone to take out their cell phones and text a number associated with his podcast, “Verdict.” As the murmurs graduated into grumbles it became clear: About a third of the 800 or so people in the room were Shabbat-observant Jews, taking texting off the table for them.
Cruz never really recovered his rapport with the audience, which included deep-pocketed donors looking to pick a candidate and rally support for him or her. That made his speech an extreme example of the trajectory of just about every address by prospective presidential hopefuls at the RJC conference — excitement tempered by two nagging questions: Does this candidate have what it takes to beat Trump, whose obsession with litigating the 2020 election helped fuel this year’s electoral losses? And is Trump inevitable whoever challenges him?
The former president was at the center of every presentation and of conversations in the corridors during breaks. On the stage, some folks named him, some did not, but — except for Trump himself during a video address from his Florida home — few did so enthusiastically.
Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor who was the first of Trump’s primary opponents in 2016 to drop out and endorse him, and then among the first to repudiate him during his presidency, repeated the admonition he made a year ago to move beyond Trump.
Say his name, Christie urged the crowd. “It is time to stop whispering,” he said. “It is time to stop doing the knowing nod, the ‘we can’t talk.’ It’s time to stop being afraid of any one person. It is time to stand up for the principles and the beliefs that we have founded this party on, this country on.” He got big cheers.
Trump was the first candidate to announce for 2024, last week, and so far the only one. But others among the half dozen or so likelys in Las Vegas were clearly signaling a run. Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations who is a star among right-wing pro-Israel groups for her successes at the United Nations in marginalizing the Palestinians, all but told the group she was ready.
“A lot of people have asked if I’m going to run for president,” Haley said. “Now that the midterms are over I’ll look at it in a serious way and I’ll have more to say soon.”
The biggest cheers were reserved for Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor who was a bright spot for Republicans on Nov. 8, winning reelection in a landslide. DeSantis listed his pro-Israel bona fides (boycotting Israel boycotters) and his culture wars (taking on Disney after the company protested his “Parents Rights in Education” bill, known among its critics as “Don’t Say Gay”).
The crowd loved it. “The state of Florida is where woke goes to die!” he said to ecstatic cheers.
DeSantis did not once mention Trump; the former president has already targeted him saying whatever success he has he owes to Trump’s endorsement of his 2018 gubernatorial bid and dubbing him “Ron DeSanctimonious.’
Getting the nickname was a clear sign that DeSantis was a formidable opponent, said Fred Zeidman, an RJC board member who has yet to endorse a candidate. “It’s a badge of honor, in that Trump has identified you as a legitimate contender for the presidency,” he said in an interview.
Yet even DeSantis was not a clear Trump successor. The RJC usually heads into campaign-year conferences with a clear idea of which of its board members back which candidates, and then relays the word to Jewish Republicans whom to contact to join a prospective campaign.
That didn’t happen this year, and Trump was the reason. Jewish Republicans are still “shopping” for candidates, Ari Fleischer, the former George W. Bush administration spokesman who is an RJC board member and who also has not endorsed a candidate, said in a gaggle with reporters.
Trump was the elephant in the RJC room, Fleischer said, using the Hebrew word for the animal.
“Donald Trump is the pil in the room. There’s no question about it,” Fleischer said right after Trump spoke. “And he is a former president. He has tremendous strength and you could hear it and feel it with this group, particularly on policy, particularly on the substantive issues that he was able to accomplish in the Middle East. It resonates with many people.”
Trump had earned cheers during his speech as he reviewed the hard-right turn his administration took on Israel policy, moving the embassy to Jerusalem and quitting the Iran nuclear deal, among other measures.
“There are other people, they’re going to look at his style and look at things he’s said, and question if he is too hot to handle,” Fleischer continued.
Trump in his talk at first stuck to a forward-looking script but toward the end of it could not resist repeating his lies about winning the 2020 election. Asked by RJC chairman Norm Coleman how he would expand the Abraham Accords, the normalization agreements he brokered between Israel and four Arab countries, should he be reelected, Trump instead bemoaned the election.
“Well, we had a very disgraceful election,” he said. “We got many millions of votes more than we had in 2016, as you all know, and the result was a disgrace in my opinion, absolute sham and a disgrace.”
It was one of many only-in-Vegas moments at an event that brings together disparate groups, including young secular Jews from university campuses gawking at the glitter, Orthodox Jews lurking at elevators waiting for someone else to push the button so they can get to their rooms, and Christian politicos and their staffers encountering an intensely Jewish environment for the first time.
“Shabbat starts on Friday night and ends on Saturday night,” one young staffer explained to another as they contemplated a “Shabbat Toilet” sign taped to a urinal. “But doesn’t it flush automatically anyway?” asked the other.
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, another presumed 2020 hopeful, was the only speaker to decry violent attacks on Jews.
“When I think about my brothers and sisters in the Jewish community, in New York City being attacked on the streets of New York, it is time to rise up on behalf of those citizens,” he said. “Rise up against those folks spreading antisemitism, hate and racism.” He was also the only speaker to praise a Democrat, Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen, with whom he has launched an African-American Jewish coalition in the Senate.
A couple of contenders who have separated themselves from Trump said his name out loud — but with disdain.
“Trump was saying that we’d be winning so much we’d get tired of winning,” said Larry Hogan, who is ending a second term as the governor of a Democratic state, Maryland, with high ratings. “Well, I’m sick and tired of our party losing. This election last week, I’m even more sick and tired than I was before. This is the third election in a row that we lost and should have won. I say three strikes and you’re out.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence peppered his speech with fond references to Trump and his refusal to heed experienced personnel who counseled an even-handed Middle East policy, a move that Pence and the RJC both believe paid off.
Yet Pence also appeared to condemn Trump’s boldest rejection of norms, his effort to overturn his 2020 loss, which spurred an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in which Pence’s life was threatened. “The American people must know that our party keeps our oath to the Constitution even when political expediency may suggest that we do otherwise,” Pence said.
One contradiction for those in attendance was the longing for Trump’s combativeness while wanting to shuck themselves of Trump’s baggage.
Typical was Alan Kruglak, a Maryland security systems contractor who said he appreciated the pro-business measures Hogan had introduced in his state but was more interested in a fighter like DeSantis.
“Trump did great things, but I think Trump’s past his time, we need younger blood that is less controversial,” said Kruglak, 68. “Trump needs to hand the baton to somebody younger, and who doesn’t have any baggage associated with them but has the same message of being independent.”
The problem is that insiders said Trump still commands the loyalty of about 30% of the party, and that could be insurmountable in a crowded primary.
Trump, Fleischer said, was inevitable as a finalist but he didn’t have to be inevitable as the nominee.
“If there’s five, six, seven real conservative outsider candidates, Donald Trump will win with a plurality because nobody else will come close,” he said. “If there’s only one or two, it’s a fair fight.”
Who would those one or two be? Fleischer would not say. Among the Republican Jews gathered in Las Vegas, no one would.
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Checking Iran’s Enriched Uranium Stock Is ‘Long Overdue,’ IAEA Report Says
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi addresses the media during their Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, Sept. 9, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
Iran still has not let inspectors into the nuclear sites Israel and the United States bombed in June, the UN atomic watchdog said in a confidential report on Wednesday, adding that accounting for Iran’s enriched uranium stock is “long overdue.”
The IAEA‘s own guidelines say it should verify a country’s stock of highly enriched uranium, such as the material enriched to up to 60 percent purity in Iran, a short step from the roughly 90 percent of weapons grade, every month.
The IAEA has been calling on Iran for months to say what happened to the stock and let inspections fully resume quickly. The two sides announced an agreement in Cairo in September that was supposed to pave the way towards that. However, progress has been limited, and Iran now says the agreement is void.
“The agency’s lack of access to this nuclear material in Iran for five months means that its verification … is long overdue,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in the report to member states seen by Reuters.
CONCERNS ABOUT DIVERSION, INSPECTIONS CRITICAL
“It is critical that the agency is able to verify the inventories of previously declared nuclear material in Iran as soon as possible in order to allay its concerns … regarding the possible diversion of declared nuclear material from peaceful use,” it added.
The report said the quantity of highly enriched uranium Iran has produced and stored is “a matter of serious concern.” The IAEA has now lost so-called continuity of knowledge of Iran’s enriched uranium stocks, it added, meaning re-establishing a full picture will be arduous.
The agency has so far only inspected some of the 13 nuclear facilities that were “unaffected” by the attacks and none of the seven that were, it said.
ENOUGH FOR 10 NUCLEAR BOMBS
One reason Israel and the United States gave for their attacks, which destroyed one of Iran’s three enrichment facilities operating at the time and at least badly damaged the others, was that Iran was getting too close to being able to produce a nuclear weapon.
Western powers say there is no civil explanation for Iran’s enrichment to such a high level. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, and the IAEA said it had no credible indication of a coordinated weapons program there.
The IAEA estimates that before the attacks Iran had 440.9 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent in uranium hexafluoride form, which can easily be enriched further. That is enough, if enriched further, for 10 nuclear bombs, according to an IAEA yardstick.
As a party to the NPT, Iran must send a detailed report to the IAEA on the status of the bombed facilities and its enriched uranium “without delay” but still has not done so, the report said. Only then can the IAEA inspect them.
NEW ENRICHMENT PLANT – STATUS UNKNOWN
While some enriched uranium will have been destroyed in the attacks, diplomats say much of the stock was likely stored at a deeply buried facility at Isfahan where the entrance tunnels were hit but damage appears limited.
Iran informed the IAEA shortly before the attacks it was setting up an enrichment facility at Isfahan, but the agency has not been able to inspect it.
“The agency does not know the precise location of [the plant], its status for safeguards purposes, including whether it contains nuclear material, or whether it was affected by the military attacks,” the report said.
While there is little sign of progress towards a nuclear deal between the US and Iran, both sides say they are open to the idea.
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UK Court Rules Palestinian NGO Can’t Appeal Decision Allowing Sale of F-35 Parts to Israel
An Israeli F-35 aircraft is seen on a runway during ‘Blue Flag,’ an aerial exercise hosted by Israel with the participation of foreign air force crews, at the Ovda military air base, southern Israel, Nov. 11, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Amir Cohen
A Palestinian NGO was on Wednesday refused permission to appeal a court ruling that Britain lawfully allowed F-35 fighter jet parts to be indirectly exported to Israel, despite accepting they could be used to breach international humanitarian law.
Al-Haq, a Palestinian rights group based in the West Bank, unsuccessfully challenged Britain’s Department for Business and Trade over its decision last year to exempt F-35 components when it suspended export licenses for arms that could be used in the war in Gaza.
The group last month asked the Court of Appeal for permission to challenge a lower court ruling that found Britain’s decision was lawful and dismissed Al-Haq’s challenge.
The Court of Appeal refused permission, ruling that it was a matter for the government to decide whether national security issues relating to the supply of F-35 components outweighed an assessment that Israel was not committed to complying with international humanitarian law.
When it suspended export licenses in 2024, Britain assessed that Israel was not committed to complying with such law in its military campaign, which targeted Hamas terrorists after their Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israeli communities.
But Britain did not suspend licenses for British-made F-35 components, which go into a pool of spare parts Israel can use on its existing F-35 jets.
London’s High Court rejected the challenge in June, saying in its ruling that then-business minister Jonathan Reynolds was “faced with the blunt choice of accepting the F-35 carve-out or withdrawing from the F-35 program and accepting all the defense and diplomatic consequences which would ensue.”
The Court of Appeal heard Al-Haq’s application for permission to appeal as Israel and Palestinian terrorist group Hamas signed an agreement last month to cease fire and free Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
In a similar case earlier this month, a Dutch appeals court confirmed a decision to throw out a case brought by pro-Palestinian groups to stop the Netherlands exporting weapons to Israel and trading with Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories.
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Jack Schlossberg, JFK’s ‘100% half Jewish’ grandson, is running for Jerry Nadler’s seat in Congress
Jack Schlossberg, the Kennedy family scion whose father’s side of the family is Jewish, is officially running for Congress in one of the most Jewish districts in the United States.
He entered the race on Tuesday night after months of speculation and an initial dismissive reaction from the seat’s current occupant, Jerry Nadler.
Schlossberg, the 32-year-old grandson of President John F. Kennedy who has risen to prominence recently as a progressive social media darling, posted an announcement Tuesday night that focused on Donald Trump and the cost of living.
“We deserve better, and we can do better, and it starts with the Democratic Party winning back control of the House of Representatives,” Schlossberg said.
Schlossberg, 32, is running to represent New York’s 12th Congressional District, which covers the Upper West and East Sides and all of Midtown Manhattan, where he said he was “born and raised, where I took the bus to school every single day from one side of the district to the other.”
His mother is the author and former U.S. ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy; Schlossberg’s father is Jewish artist Edwin Schlossberg. His paternal grandfather, Alfred Schlossberg, worked in what he said in his announcement was the “shmatte business,” making men’s dress shirts.
The younger Schlossberg was raised with some Jewish traditions at home, such as incorporating Hanukkah traditions into their holiday parties.
“I feel I’m at least 100% half Jewish ;),” he told Hey Alma last year, as he broke out as a social media star.
Schlossberg was born in 1993 — one year after Nadler was first elected. Nadler, Congress’ most senior Jewish member, announced in September that he would not be running for reelection to make way for the next generation. Nadler’s retirement opened up an already-crowded race to represent a “crown jewel” of New York politics, with a number of others rumored to be exploring their own candidacies.
Other candidates officially running include Alex Bores and Micah Lasher, both members of the state Assembly, as well as 26-year-old non-profit founder Liam Elkind.
Schlossberg has worked as a political correspondent for Vogue and endorsed Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention. He has never held public office — a fact that Jerry Nadler himself hammered home in an interview with CNN following his retirement announcement, when Schlossberg was considering running.
“Well, there’s nothing particularly good or bad about a Kennedy holding my seat. But the Kennedy, unlike Schlossberg, should be somebody with a record of public service, a record of public accomplishment, and he doesn’t have one,” Nadler said. “And so, I don’t think he’s going to be a candidate in the end, and he certainly is not going to be a major candidate. There will be major candidates,” Nadler continued, pointing to Lasher as one example. “I’m sure there’ll be other candidates.”
Schlossberg took Nadler’s criticism in stride, writing on Instagram, “Honestly no offense taken whatsoever ! As a New Yorker, a progressive and an American, I have nothing but thanks and respects to offer Rep Nadler.”
Schlossberg endorsed Zohran Mamdani ahead of the Democratic mayoral primary, and said on Instagram that he didn’t “give a f–k” that he would “piss off” former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, his cousin by marriage. In an Instagram post responding to people who ask why he supports Mamdani as a Jew, Schlossberg said, “If you think that Zohran doesn’t like Jews, you’re f–king brainwashed.”
He added, “We cannot have this thing where if you disagree with Israeli policy, you hate Jews. That’s not good and that’s not fighting antisemitism. That’s horses–t and that’s a cop-out.”
In an interview with the New York Times the day after Mamdani’s election, he said he thought Mamdani’s victory — including his wide margin among young voters — was a positive omen for his own campaign.
Schlossberg defended Mamdani against allegations of antisemitism in that interview. “New York needs to be a safe place for Jewish people,” Schlossberg said. “I’m very sensitive to the Jewish community’s concerns, because I feel them, too. It bothers me.”
While a supporter of Mamdani, he disagreed with the mayor-elect’s pledge to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he sets foot in New York, and, unlike Mamdani, chose not to describe the conflict in Gaza as a “genocide.”
“I think it’s painfully clear that Israel’s committing atrocities in Gaza,” Schlossberg said.
In an interview days before Schlossberg entered the race, Democratic strategist Trip Yang said the 12th district race is “wide open.”
“Jerry Nadler is an icon, trailblazer. Nadler is one of the most popular figures in Manhattan history,” Yang said.
“This is one of the most important congressional districts — a lot of wealth, a lot of power in this district. But it’s an open seat,” Yang said. “So you can have a lot of big names enter right now. It is wide open.”
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