Uncategorized
Kevin McCarthy promised to replace Rashida Tlaib’s event with a ‘bipartisan’ pro-Israel discussion. Only Republicans spoke.
WASHINGTON (JTA) — When House Speaker Kevin McCarthy blocked an event marking 75 years of Palestinian suffering since Israel’s establishment in 1948, he promised to replace it with a bipartisan discussion celebrating Israel.
McCarthy’s event took place, but only Republicans spoke. Prominent pro-Israel Democratic lawmakers were not invited.
“This event in the US Capitol is canceled,” McCarthy tweeted on Tuesday, a day ahead of a planned commemoration of what Palestinians refer to as the “Nakba,” or catastrophe, organized by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the Palestinian-American Michigan Democrat. “Instead, I will host a bipartisan discussion to honor the 75th anniversary of the US-Israel relationship.”
A speaker of the House usurping a lawmaker’s right to use a room is rare if not unprecedented. But McCarthy’s action drew praise from an array of centrist pro-Israel groups, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Anti-Defamation League.
Tlaib ultimately hosted her event on the Senate side of the Capitol, securing a room with the help of a progressive Jewish ally, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
McCarthy’s event also went ahead on Wednesday night — but unlike Tlaib’s was closed to media and, also, apparently to Democratic lawmakers. Staffers for pro-Israel groups including AIPAC were in attendance, in addition to Republican lawmakers and their staffers.
Three of the most outspokenly pro-Israel Democrats in Congress were not there, and it appears they were not invited. They all confirmed to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that they did not get invitations, although they asked not to be identified.
According to someone who was present at McCarthy’s event, speakers included McCarthy, who discussed his recent visit to Israel, and the two Jewish Republicans in Congress — Reps. Max Miller of Ohio and David Kustoff of Tennessee. Elliott Abrams, who has served in three Republican administrations, including the Trump White House, also spoke, arguing that referring to the “Nakba” delegitimized Israel.
McCarthy’s office did not respond to inquiries regarding whether Democrats were invited. A McCarthy spokesman referred JTA to remarks McCarthy made on Thursday at a press conference, when he was asked to comment on Sanders’ agreement to grant Tlaib the use of a Senate room.
Tlaib’s event, he said, “almost feels like” antisemitism, McCarthy said.
“I will never allow it to happen in this body… I’ve watched members on the other side of the aisle say that time and again,” he said, apparently referring to multiple Democratic initiatives denouncing antisemitism. Regarding antisemitism, he added, “We will always stand up against that no matter where it is. I just came back from a bipartisan group of members going to the 75th anniversary of Israel.”
Regarding Sanders working with Tlaib, he said, “We’ve got a senator on the other side that I guess agrees with her and against the rest of the world.”
Asked about the attendance of AIPAC staffers at the McCarthy event, the lobby’s spokesman, Marshall Wittmann, praised McCarthy for canceling Tlaib’s use of a room in the Capitol. But he also indicated that bipartisan support of Israel remains the lobby’s calling, and referred to Israel’s ongoing conflict with Palestinian militants in Gaza.
“We appreciate Speaker McCarthy’s leadership in cancelling an odious anti-Israel event and then hosting a program supporting [the] Jewish state,” Wittmann told JTA. “We also applaud the numerous Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who have issued statements in solidarity with the Jewish state as it confronts terrorist attacks.”
—
The post Kevin McCarthy promised to replace Rashida Tlaib’s event with a ‘bipartisan’ pro-Israel discussion. Only Republicans spoke. appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
Amid Iran Standoff, Witkoff and Kushner Pose Aboard USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier
Steve Witkoff (R) aboard the aircraft carrier Lincoln. Photo via i24 / social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law
i24 News – Special US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited on Saturday the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier.
The duo, who led the US in the indirect nuclear talks with Iran on Friday, visited the aircraft carrier at the invitation of US Central Command chief, Adm. Brad Cooper.
The carrier arrived in the region last week as part of a US “armada” amid rising tensions with the Islamic regime of Iran. It is stationed in the Arabian Sea.
The visit came hours after US President Donald Trump stated that while the talks went well, “But I think Iran looks like they want to make a deal very badly, as they should. Last time, they decided maybe not to do it, but I think they probably feel differently. We’ll see what the deal is. It’ll be different than last time. And we have a big armada. We have a big fleet heading in that direction. It’ll be there pretty soon. So we’ll see how that works out.”
Uncategorized
Pentagon Says It Will Cut Academic Ties With Harvard University
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives to administer the oath to U.S. Army National Guard soldiers during a re-enlistment ceremony at the base of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Friday his department was ending professional military education, fellowships, and certificate programs with Harvard University, marking the Trump administration’s latest escalation against the school.
President Donald Trump’s administration has cracked down on top US universities, including Harvard, over a range of issues such as pro-Palestinian protests against US ally Israel’s assault on Gaza, diversity programs, transgender policies and climate initiatives.
“Starting now and beginning in the 2026-27 school year, I am discontinuing all graduate level Professional Military Education (PME), all fellowships and certificate programs between Harvard University and the War Department for active duty service members,” Hegseth, who himself holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, said on X.
The policy will apply to service members enrolling in future programs while those currently enrolled will be allowed to finish their courses, Hegseth said.
He also added that the Pentagon will evaluate similar relationships with other universities in the coming weeks.
Rights advocates have raised free speech, academic freedom and due process concerns over the government’s actions against universities.
A Harvard spokesperson directed Reuters to a page on the history of the university’s ties with the US military that says Harvard has played a “significant role” in America’s military traditions since the nation’s founding.
TRUMP-HARVARD TENSIONS CONTINUE
The university has previously sued the Trump administration over the government’s attempt to freeze federal funding.
Hegseth accused Harvard of “hate America activism,” also calling the university antisemitic in a reference to pro-Palestinian protests.
Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly equates criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza with antisemitism and advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism.
Harvard has condemned discrimination on campus. Its antisemitism and Islamophobia task forces found last year that Jews and Muslims faced bigotry after the start of Israel’s war in Gaza following an October 2023 Hamas attack.
Trump’s attempts to freeze federal funds for Harvard have faced legal resistance and the two sides have failed to reach a deal thus far.
Trump said this week his administration was seeking $1 billion from Harvard to settle probes into school policies.
Some Ivy League schools have reached agreements with the Trump administration and accepted certain government demands. Columbia University has agreed to pay more than $220 million to the government while Brown University has agreed to pay $50 million to support local workforce development.
Uncategorized
Netanyahu Expected to Meet Trump in US on Wednesday and Discuss Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signs the joint declaration of mutual recognition with Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi, officially establishing full diplomatic relations between the two nations. Photo: Screenshot
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet US President Donald Trump on Wednesday in Washington, where they will discuss negotiations with Iran, Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday.
Iranian and US officials held indirect nuclear talks in the Omani capital Muscat on Friday. Both sides said more talks were expected to be held again soon.
A regional diplomat briefed by Tehran on the talks told Reuters Iran insisted on its “right to enrich uranium” during the negotiations with the US, and that Tehran’s missile capabilities were not raised in the discussions.
Iranian officials have ruled out putting Iran’s missiles – one of the largest such arsenals in the Middle East – up for discussion, and have said Tehran wants recognition of its right to enrich uranium.
PRIME MINISTER SEEKS MISSILE CURBS
“The Prime Minister believes any negotiations must include limitations on ballistic missiles and a halting of the support for the Iranian axis,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Wednesday’s meeting would be the seventh between Netanyahu and Trump since the US president returned to office in January last year.
The pair had been expected to meet on February 18, but the talks were brought forward amid the renewed engagement with Iran. A spokesperson for Netanyahu did not immediately comment on why the date was moved up.
Last June, the US joined an Israeli military campaign against Iran’s uranium enrichment and other nuclear installations, marking the most direct American military action ever against the Islamic Republic.
Iran retaliated by launching a missile attack on a US base in Qatar.
The US and Israel have repeatedly warned Iran that they would strike again if Tehran pressed ahead with its enrichment and ballistic missile programs.
World powers and regional states fear a breakdown in the negotiations would ignite another conflict between the US and Iran that could spill over to the rest of the oil-producing region.
Iran has vowed a harsh response to any strike and has cautioned neighboring Gulf Arab countries that host US bases that they could be in the firing line if they were involved in an attack.