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Some thoughts on Netanyahu’s speech before Congress – and the Jewish Federation allocations to agencies
By BERNIE BELLAN After just having watched Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, I’m left wondering – as are probably most pundits, just who it was that Netanyahu was trying to reach?
There certainly wasn’t anything new in what he had to say. He offered his oft-repeated litany of warnings about the dangers posed by Iran and its surrogates in the Middle East and insisted that Israel will continue its war in Gaza until it has achieved its aims.
By now though, Netanyahu has backed down from his initial goal of “totally eradicating” Hamas to instead pressing for the removal of Hamas from power – to be replaced by some sort of Palestinian civilian administration (of course, without even giving a hint of which Palestinians could be expected to form that administration).
The timing of Netanyahu’s appearance before Congress was indeed strange. No doubt, he expected to be coming to America when President Biden was still determined to continue his hopeless quest to defeat Donald Trump, so Netanyahu was for sure anticipating that he could coddle up to a soon-to-be-elected President Trump by issuing heaps of praise in his speech for how much Trump had done for Israel.
There have been many reports that even Netanyahu – who has bent over backwards to flatter as supreme a narcissist as Donald Trump, had angered Trump when he issued congratulations to President Biden over his winning the 2020 election. (Anyone who refused to go along with Trump’s insistence that the election was stolen ended up on the wrong side of Trump.) Netanyahu’s coming to the US was meant largely to patch up those damaged feelings – especially when until Sunday, July 20, it seemed all but certain that Trump was headed to victory this coming November.
Then that darned Biden had to go and throw all of Netanyahu’s calculations into the dumpster. Now, instead of being able to offer a non-stop series of remarks intended to flatter the man who was all but certain headed to a sweeping victory in November, Netanyahu had to modulate his speech to also thank President Biden for the strong support he had shown Israel since October 7. Better to keep one foot in the Democrats’ camp too, Netanyahu realized.
Still, will Netanyahu’s speech make any difference at all in the coming US election? Not at all. Anyone who knows Trump understands that he really could care less about the Middle East – unless there’s money to be made for the Trump organization there.
What about Trump’s much ballyhooed “deal of the century,” which he kept talking about back when he was President – and on which his son-in-law Jared Kushner was working (quite constructively, I’ll admit) to bring about a larger peace deal that would have included Saudi Arabia, but which also got stuck on the thorny issue of creating a Palestinian state? Is there any likelihood that a Trump administration would want to revisit that plan? Not while Netanyahu and the right-wing fanatics who are keeping him in power are still calling the shots.
While the Republican Party is sure to give staunch support to Israel – no matter who is in charge in Israel, what can be said about the Democrats?
Kamala Harris is likely to try and steer clear of enunciating any kind of clear policies when it comes to providing support for Israel. Sure, she’ll repeat the standard mantra of America standing behind Israel, but when it comes to translating that policy into concrete action, I expect that Harris will bob and weave. The mere announcement that Biden was dropping his determination to remain in the presidential race – thus leaving the floor clear for Harris to step into the role as candidate, led to a huge torrent of support from among American Jews for Harris.
So, if Harris can count on the roughly 80% of American Jews who voted for Biden in 2020 to come around again – what does that mean for her working to gain back some other constituencies who had lost interest in voting for Biden? Are Arab Americans in Michigan – where they form a sizeable group of voters, now likely to return to the Democrat fold? We’ll have to wait for polls to tell us how likely that is – and just how much Harris’s entering the race instead of Biden will have narrowed the fairly large gap that existed between Trump and Biden. I rather tend to think that Harris will be able to continue building momentum and that the 5% of Americans who, to this point, have remained undecided about which presidential candidate they will vote for will largely swing her way. On top of that, large numbers of voters who indicated they would vote for Trump – largely because they found him less unattractive than Biden, will begin to switch over to Harris.
And, where does that leave Netanyahu and his Machiavellian calculations? Based on what has happened to date, when he has consistently torpedoed deals that would have led to a cease fire, he is likely simply to procrastinate – which will keep him in good stead with those two right wing fanatics who are propping him up: Smotrich and Ben Gvir.
Switching gears – there will be many interesting stories in the days to come on this website about different members of our Jewish community – both current and former – in particular, stories that Myron Love has written about relatively young members of our community who have stepped up to assume leadership roles, including brothers Harley and Bradley Abells, Jonathan Strauss, and Elena Grinshteyn. (So, if you’re reading this on July 24, keep an eye out for new stories soon to appear.)
I have to add a note of caution though – which I’m prone to doing when it comes to discussing the long term health of our Jewish community. And that note emanates from my own report on allocations to the beneficiary agencies of the Jewish Federation in this issue.
As I observe in my story about those allocations, while the total amount to be distributed has remained fairly constant the past two years, it is somewhat lower than what it was three and four years ago, and when inflation is taken into account, it is far less than what it was 10 years ago.
While the Combined Jewish Appeal has been successful in realizing its goals each year for the past many years, again, when inflation is taken into account, what the community is raising relative to what it raised 10 years ago is far less.
But, as I’ve also noted in my reports about the Jewish Foundation each year that it announces the total value of grants it has distributed, it is the Foundation that has been very much stepping into the breech between what the needs of the community are and what has been raised by the Combined Jewish Appeal.
This past year the Foundation distributed just under $7 million in grants. That was also approximately how much the Foundation distributed the previous year, but it was a huge increase from just two years prior (2020) when the Foundation distributed a little over $5 million in grants.
And, as I reported in the July 3 issue, the Foundation is now committed to distributing 5% of the total value of its investment portfolio next year. Considering that the portfolio is now valued at over $160 million, that means the Foundation is likely to distribute over $8 million in grants in the coming year. Add to that the fact that the Foundation continues to receive a very large number of contributions each year ($5.8 million this past year), and the Foundation has become the bedrock of the financial sustainability of our Jewish community. Where would be without the Jewish Foundation? I’d hate to think.
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Palestinian Economist: Because of Pay-for-Slay, ‘There Is No Money’
People hold Fatah flags during a protest in support of the people of Gaza, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Hebron, in the West Bank, Oct. 27, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
Just a week after a senior Palestinian Authority (PA) education official acknowledged that the PA prefers to fund terrorists rather than its children’s education system, a prominent Palestinian economist has now admitted that the PA cannot pay civil servants because it has chosen to pay terrorists first.
General Union of Palestinian Economists Secretary Nasser Atyani: “We are talking about around 280 million shekels ($85.5 million) that are being deducted [by Israel] every month [of the Gaza war], which were earmarked for the Gaza Strip, aside from an additional amount of 55-60 million shekels ($16.8-18.3 million) that were earmarked for the families of the Martyrs [i.e., Israel deducts the amount of PA terror salaries]
… We are saying that we have a problem with the [PA] budget and that there is no money, for example, to pay the salaries of the [PA] employees and cover the expenses.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, The Economic Discourse, Oct. 29, 2025]
Atyani intended this as a complaint against Israel, but his words confirm the real story — the PA has no money for civil servants because it deliberately allocates massive funds to terrorists and their families.
Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has repeatedly shown that the PA’s budget crisis would end immediately if the PA stopped its “Pay-for-Slay” rewards for terrorists serving prison sentences, as well as released terrorists, and the families of dead terrorists.
Instead of paying teachers, nurses, and other public employees, the PA continues to funnel tens of millions of dollars every month to incentivize terror.
The PA leadership enters each budget year knowing precisely how much money will be deducted by Israel — the same sum the PA allocated to terror salaries the previous year. And yet the PA refuses to stop prioritizing terror. This admission has been made on PA TV twice in just over a week — there is money, but it is reserved for terrorists first.
The bottom line is unavoidable. The Palestinian Authority’s financial crisis is not caused by Israel. Rather, it is the direct result of the PA’s unwavering commitment to reward terrorism at the expense of its own people.
Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Itamar Marcus is the Founder and Director of PMW, where a version of this article first appeared.
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The Hebrew word “stav” didn’t always mean the fall season
יעדעס יאָר אין נאָוועמבער, ווען עס קומט דער האַרבסט און מע האַלט נאָך אין סאַמע זומער (מיט אַ וואָך צוריק בין איך נאָך געגאַנגען אין אַ העמד מיט קורצע אַרבל), זאָגן די סקעפּטיקערס אַז דאָ אין ישׂראל זײַנען אייגנטלעך פֿאַראַן נאָר צוויי סעזאָנען: אַ לאַנגער זומער און אַ קורצער ווינטער. די ציניקערס זאָגן נאָך אַז די צוויי סעזאָנען הייסן אין דער אמתן „דער הייסער סעזאָן“ און „דער ווייניקער הייסער“ – און עס איז נישט אין גאַנצן איבערגעטריבן.
דער תּנ״ך למשל, וואָס האָט גוט געקענט די נאַטור פֿון ארץ-ישׂראל, האָט קיינמאָל נישט געשריבן וועגן די פֿיר סעזאָנען — זומער, האַרבסט, ווינטער און פֿרילינג. אַפֿילו אינעם וואָרט „סתּיו“ (האַרבסט), וואָס ווערט דערמאָנט אין שיר השירים ב, יא: „כי הנה הסתו עבר“, מיינט מען נישט דעם האַרבסט, נאָר דווקא דעם ווינטער. אויך די משנה, וואָס באַשרײַבט די פֿיר „תּקופֿות“ פֿון יאָר (מסכת ראש השנה א, א: „בארבעה פרקים העולם נידון“), דערמאָנט מען נישט אונדזערע באַקאַנטע סעזאָנען.
ערשט אין דער נײַער העברעיִשער ליטעראַטור הייבט מען אָן שרײַבן וועגן דעם „סתּיו“ מיטן טײַטש האַרבסט. דער העברעיִשער שרײַבער אליהו מרדכי ווערבעל (1880-1806) פֿון גאַליציע האָט אין זײַן בוך „לימודי הטבע“ באַניצט דאָס וואָרט „סתּיו“ ווי „האַרבסט“, אפֿשר צוליב דעם וואָס דער ווינטער האָט שוין געהאַט אַ נאָמען: חורף. דאָס איז אַ פּנים געפֿעלן די נײַע העברעיִשע שרײַבערס, וואָס האָבן אַ סך געשריבן וועגן דעם אייראָפּעיִשן פּייזאַזש. האָבן זיי אַדאָפּטירט דעם נעאָלאָגיזם און געשריבן למשל וועגן „נוּגֵה סְתָו אוֹ עַז חֹרֶף“ (אַ טרויעריקער האַרבסט אָדער אַ שטאַרקער ווינטער – ח. נ. ביאַליק); „עברו ימי החג ושמי הסתיו רבצו על הארץ“ (עס זײַנען פֿאַרגאַנגען די יום-טובֿדיקע טעג און אַ האַרבסטיקער הימל איז געלעגן איבערן לאַנד – ש.י. עגנון).
הײַנט צו טאָג איז דער טערמין „סתּיו“ אַזוי באַקאַנט, אַז מען האָט שוין פֿאַרגעסן אַז טויזנטער יאָרן האָט לשון-קודש זיך באַגאַנגען אָן אים. דאָס וואָרט „סתּיו“ איז נאַטירלעך אַפֿילו פֿאַר קליינע קינדער, און אַ סימן דערפֿון זײַנען די צייכענונגען וואָס מײַנע טײַערע פּלימעניקעס האָבן מיר לעצטנס געוויזן פֿונעם קינדער-גאָרטן: שיינע ברוינע ביימער, באַדעקט מיט האַרבסטיקע בלעטער.
דווקא צוויי ווערטער וועלכע האָבן אַ סך צו טאָן מיטן האַרבסט זײַנען פֿאַראַן אויף עבֿרית, אָבער אויף די אייראָפּשיע שפּראַכן (און ייִדיש בתּוכם) — נישט. די ווערטער זײַנען „יורה“, דער ערשטער רעגן וואָס קומט נאָך אַ לאַנגן, טרוקענעם זומער, און „שלכת“ – אַ בלעטער־אָפּפֿאַל, די פֿאַלנדיקע בלעטער פֿון בוים אין האַרבסט. „ונתתי מטר ארצכם בעתו יורה ומלקוש“ (דברים יא, יד: „װעל איך געבן דעם רעגן פֿון אײַער לאַנד אין זײַן צײַט, פֿרירעגן און שפּעטרעגן“ – יהואשס איבערזעצונג). יאָ, מיר האָבן ווייניק רעגן דאָ אין לאַנד, אָבער אַ סך ווערטער דערפֿאַר: גשם, מטר, מבול, זרזיף, טפטוף, רביבים, יורה, מלקוש אאז”וו.
דאָס צווייטע וואָרט, „שלכת“, ווערט דערמאָנט אין ישעיהו ו, יג: „כאלה וכאלון אשר בשלכת“ („װי אַ טערעבינט און װי אַן אײכנבױם, װאָס נאָר זײער שטאַם בלײַבט װען בלעטער פֿאַלן“). „שלכת“ איז אָן קיין שום ספֿק פֿון די שענסטע ווערטער אין עבֿרית. אין אַמעריקע און אין אייראָפּע זײַנען פֿאַראַן פֿאַלנדיקע בלעטער, און איר האָט שיינע לידער ווי Les Feuilles Mortes („האַרבסטבלעטער“( פֿון זשאַק פּרעווער. אָבער מיר, ישׂראלים, האָבן אַ באַזונדער פֿײַערלעך וואָרט דערפֿאַר — „שלכת“, און איר קאָנט אונדז נאָר מקנא זײַן. די ווערטער „יורה“ און „שלכת“ זײַנען געוואָרן אַ מין „מאַדלען-קיכל“, מיט אַ סגולה צו דערוועקן פֿאַרבאָרגענע טעמים און זכרונות.
דאָס האָבן גוט פֿאַרשטאַנען די ייִדישע שרײַבערס וואָס זײַנען אַהין געקומען, און געזוכט נײַע ווערטער פֿאַר די נאַטור-פֿענאָמענען אין ישׂראל. די אַמעריקאַנער דיכטערין רחל פֿישמאַן, וואָס האָט זיך באַזעצט אין קיבוץ בית-אלפֿא, נאָענט צו דער נאַטור, האָט זייער שיין געשריבן ווערן דעם יורה: „שמאָלע פּלײצעס / האָט דער יורה. / און דאָך / שמײכלען אים אַלע נאָך. / די מענער קלאַפּן אים פֿרײַנדלעך. / אױף זײַן דינעם רוקן / קינדער לױפֿן / װילן אָנרירן זײַן גרױ העמד. / ער גיט אײן בליק / מיט זײַנע פֿײַכטע אױגן / און גײט װײַטער“ („זון איבער אַלץ“, זײַט 47).
איז זײַט מיר מוחל, סקעפּטיקערס און ציניקערס: דער האַרבסט עקזיסטירט דאָ דווקא יאָ, און נאָך ווי! עס הייבט זיך אָן מיט די ערשטע טעג ווען מע בעט „ותּן טל ומטר לבֿרכה“ און עס דויערט ביז אַרום חנוכּה, ווען עס ווערט שוין עפּעס ווינטערדיק. פֿאַרשטייט זיך, עס איז נישט דער פּרעכטיקער האַרבסט פֿון צפֿון-אַמעריקע, מיט די וווּנדערלעכע פֿאַרבן; און נישט „דער גאָלדענער האַרבסט“ פֿון מזרח-אייראָפּע, וואָס מען האָט אַזוי שיין באַזונגען אין דער ייִדישער ליטעראַטור.
מיר באַנוגענען זיך מיט אַ ביסל: דאָ און דאָרטן, דער עיקר אין די בערג, לעבן ירושלים צי אינעם גליל, קאָן מען זען אַ בוים אין שלכת. יעדעס יאָר נעם איך פֿון דאָס נײַ אַ פֿאָטאָ פֿון אַ קאַרשן-בוים אין ירושלים, ווען זײַנע בלעטער ווערן סוף-כּל-סוף גאָלד; און אויפֿן וועג צווישן תּל-אָבֿיבֿ און ירושלים באַמערק איך די האַרבסטיקע ביימער. ביסלעכווײַז אין חודש חשוון אָדער כּסלו קומט צו גאַסט אַ וואָלקנדל אָדער רעגנדל, און דער עיקר: עס ווערט אַ ביסל קילער – אַ מחיה. עס איז אַ סך פֿריילעכער ווי דער פֿרילינג, ווײַל דאָ אין לאַנד הייבט זיך אָן גרינען אין סאַמע ווינטער, און אַרום פּסח זײַנען ס׳רובֿ בלומען אויף יענער וועלט, ווײַל עס קומען די באַרימטע „חמסינען“, די הייסע ווינטן פֿון מדבר.
אמת, מען קאָן אויך נישט לייקענען אַז מיטן האַרבסט קומען הײַנט אויך מעלאַנכאָלישע טענער. דעם 7טן אָקטאָבער דערוועקט בײַ אונדז די פֿרישע זכרונות פֿון דעם טראַגישן שׂמחת-תּורה 2023 און די בלוטיקע יאָרן וואָס זײַנען געקומען נאָך אים, און דאָס האַרץ ווערט פֿאַרקלעמט. דער נײַער יאָרצײַט פֿאַראייניקט זיך מיט אַן אַלטן: דאָס יאָר האָבן מיר דעם 4סטן נאָוועמבער אָפּגעמערקט 30 יאָר זינט מען האָט דערמאָרדעט דעם פּרעמיער-מיניסטער יצחק רבין. נאָך אַ סך יאָרן האָט מען באַנײַט די יערלעכע מאַניפֿעסטאַציע אין כּיכּר רבין (רבין-פּלאַץ), וואָס מע האָט אויפֿגעהערט טאָן מיט צוואַנציק יאָר צוריק. אָבער צוליב דעם וואָס די מאַניפֿעסטאַציע איז הײַיאָר פֿאָרגעקומען אַ קורצע צײַט נאָך דעם פֿײַער-אָפּשטעל אין עזה, זענען די געפֿילן געווען געמישטע: פֿון איין זײַט — פֿול מיט טרויער, צער און זאָרג; פֿון דער צווייטער —אַ פֿריש ווינטל פֿון האָפֿענונג, האַרבסטיקע גרוסן פֿון ערגעץ-וווּ.
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Jewish conservatives are looking to JD Vance to draw a line against the antisemitic right. He hasn’t delivered.
(JTA) — Ben Shapiro, Bari Weiss and Dan Senor were mostly in lockstep as they condemned antisemitism on the right during an event for Jewish conservatives on Sunday night.
But despite their shared concern about Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes, they were divided on how to think about Vice President JD Vance, who hasn’t publicly disavowed either the influential podcast host or the white supremacist he recently interviewed.
“I’m worried, but I’m not alarmed,” said Senor, a columnist and host of the podcast “Call Me Back,” about the groundswell of antisemitic expressions on the right.
“You’re not alarmed?” interjected Weiss, the newly named editor-in-chief of CBS News.
“I’m not alarmed because I am struck that every leader that is under pressure from this online mob is still standing strong,” said Senor, who pointed out that President Donald Trump has been steadfastly pro-Israel. “Who has fallen? No one has fallen.”
Weiss pressed the issue, singling out Vance: “But what does it mean that the vice president of the United States had Tucker Carlson on his show, when he had hosted Charlie Kirk’s show?”
The question, referring to Vance’s tribute to the slain leader of Turning Point USA, drew applause from many of the more than 1,000 attendees at the 2025 Jewish Leadership Conference, held in Manhattan and organized by the conservative Tikvah Fund.
The exchange aired a growing debate within the Republican party and the right as a whole. Stoked by Carlson’s friendly sit-down with Fuentes, and Carlson’s own harsh criticisms of Israel, it has led to calls within the party that its leaders disavow the antisemites in its midst. Influential Jewish conservatives, who see Republicans as a much more reliable friend to Israel than the Democrats, are eyeing key figures like Vance as counterweights to the right’s increasingly isolationist and emboldened antisemitic forces.
But so far Vance — a likely 2028 presidential candidate — has not delivered any rebuke to Carlson, Fuentes and the growing antisemitic “groyper” movement on the right. Instead, he has drawn concern over what his critics say is a weak response: He did not push back on skeptical questions about Israel, including one laced with an antisemitic conspiracy theory, at a Turning Point USA event at Ole Miss. He also downplayed the significance of the text messages shared among Young Republicans, which included jokes about gas chambers, racist slurs and praise of Hitler. Vance dismissed the invective as “jokes” and said that critics should “grow up.”
Vance’s failure to call out what others see as troubling isolationism and blatant antisemitism has become a talking point at Jewish gatherings.
Scott Jennings, a conservative political commentator for CNN, spoke about the U.S.-Israel relationship at the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly in Washington on Sunday. Jennings did not name Vance, but alluded to him as a presidential candidate in 2028. “Hopefully the people who run to replace this administration understand the benefit of this, that it’s a good thing and not something to be ashamed of,” he said, referring to support of Israel.
Meanwhile, donors at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual summit in Las Vegas two weeks ago were not shy about their views on Vance.
“In 2028 you can bet, if he’s the nominee, I won’t vote for him,” said Ed Wenger, who called Vance “Tucker Central.”
The vice president, Wenger said, “sounds like he tolerates religions” other than Christianity, rather than embracing them. “Well, I don’t need Vance to tolerate Judaism or me.”
Valerie Greenfeld’s thoughts on Vance in 2028 were quick and straight to the point. “Marco Rubio for president,” said Greenfeld, an author attending the RJC summit.
Jewish activist Shabbos Kestenbaum, who spoke during the RJC’s summit, criticized Vance’s response to the conspiracy-laced question at the Turning Point USA event.
“When you have a vice president who is unable to condemn the obvious antisemitic, conspiratorial, victim-blaming mentality of young people, that is incredibly concerning,” Kestenbaum said in an interview. “And I am very concerned about JD Vance’s inevitable run for the presidency. This is not someone who I have seen has been able to show the moral clarity that a leader needs.”
Ari Fleischer, an RJC board member and former White House press secretary, did not criticize Vance, but said about the vice president’s response to antisemitism within the party, “This is going to be one of those issues that’s going to define his future.”
“The number of candidates who emerge to run for president will be significant on the Republican side, and that’s going to begin in earnest in about one year,” Fleischer said. “And I think JD’s going to have to earn it like everybody else, and be very curious to see what he has to say.”
While Vance hasn’t weighed in on the Carlson-Fuentes controversy, he did defend Carlson’s son, Buckley, in an X post on Saturday. An X user had asserted that Tucker Carlson’s brother “idolizes Nick Fuentes” and asked whether Buckley, who serves as an aide to the vice president, is “also a vile bigot.”
“Every time I see a public attack on Buckley it’s a complete lie,” Vance wrote, later adding that “*everyone* who I’ve seen attack Buckley with lies is a scumbag.” His tweets did not mention Fuentes.
Saul Sadka, a pro-Israel influencer with nearly 65,000 followers on X, recently called out Vance’s exchange about Buckley Carlson and his failure to condemn his father. The vice president has “decided that trying to impress the schoolyard bullies by performatively picking on Jews is the way to become popular as the new kid in school,” wrote Sadka.
Vance’s boss also ignored the Carlson-Fuentes tensions for weeks, only to brush aside concerns about Carlson, who joined him on the campaign trail last year. “You can’t tell him who to interview,” Trump said on Sunday. “If he wants to interview Nick Fuentes, I don’t know much about him, but if he wants to do it, get the word out. People have to decide.”
And while Trump hosted Fuentes and rapper Kanye West for a dinner at Mar-a-Lago in 2022 (Trump later claimed he didn’t know who Fuentes was), some still see him as a bulwark against the anti-Israel and antisemitic waves represented by the groypers.
Kestenbaum said he is “so proud to support President Trump,” but is concerned about the power vacuum that will be created once his second term ends.
“I’m just concerned that when President Trump reaches his term limit, and when there is an open Republican primary, that we will see the nefarious far-right actors that President Trump has so clearly kept at bay, and has made clear have no room in the Republican Party — I’m concerned that they will be let in,” Kestenbaum said.
At Sunday’s Tikvah conference, Shapiro, the conservative political commentator and founder of the Daily Wire, cautioned against dismissing the threat of figures like Fuentes — whom he called a “basement dweller” — and the far-right influencer Andrew Tate, and their influence on younger, more online generations.
“They haven’t aged into the voting population yet,” Shapiro said about their audiences. “And so I think one of the things that we have to be very careful of is trying to write that off as not a problem.”
Weiss concurred, saying, “It’s a great lesson of the left over the past 15 years that everything was downstream of online culture.”
Senor, responding to Weiss, agreed that Vance should say more about the rising tides. “I am patiently waiting for the vice president to come out, like a number of other leaders have come out in recent weeks,” he said. Sens. Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell both criticized the Heritage Foundation for standing by Carlson.
Jonathan Silver, the moderator and Tikvah’s chief programming officer, cut in at that point, saying there’s “comfort to be had in the fact that elected leaders have acted in such a patriotic, American way,” before shifting the conversation more specifically to asking why Fuentes appeals to young people.
Many attending the Tikvah event seemed also to be waiting for a strong statement from Vance condemning Fuentes and Carlson.
“I’m willing to be patient — but only so patient,” said Neil Cooper, referring back to Senor’s comment that he’s “patiently waiting” for Vance to comment on Carlson.
Luke Moon, a leader of a Christian Zionist non-profit, expressed concern about an emerging “neo-isolationist” wing of Republicans who oppose supporting Israel.
Moon said he’s even noticed a recent shift in how Vance has posted about Israel on social media.
“JD went to Israel a couple weeks ago, and they didn’t post pictures of him at the [Western] Wall,” Moon said. “Now I appreciate that as a Christian he should go to the Holy Sepulchre. But he had also previously gone to the Wall.”
Others did not take issue with Vance, saying they believed the threat at hand was being blown out of proportion.
“That’s just a small little group of people. Only people involved in journalism take that stuff serious,” said Edward Shapiro, a retired professor who has moved from New Jersey to Florida.
He added, “They’re such fringe characters.”
As for Weiss, who was named to head CBS News after four years at the helm of the consistently pro-Israel Free Press, she said she hoped to use her new position to counter the voices like the ones at the center of Sunday’s discussion.
“The choices that it feels like we have sometimes — which is [the progressive streamer] Hasan Piker and Tucker Carlson, or Nick Fuentes and Andrew Tate, the kind of people who are rising in the podcast charts — those don’t actually represent our values,” Weiss said. “And I don’t think that they represent the values or the worldview of the vast majority of Americans.”
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