David Flaum, a Rochester, N.Y.-based real estate developer with strong ties to outgoing governor and possible 2008 presidential contender George Pataki, has been named as the new national chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition. Flaum was elected to a two-year term earlier this week at a meeting of the RJC board of directors in Las…
The run-off campaign between Republic Rep. Henry Bonilla and ex-congressman Ciro Rodriguez in Texas’s 23rd district is coming down to the wire, and Bonilla is slamming his opponent over alleged ties to terrorist organizations and individuals. On Monday, Bonilla held a press conference accusing Rodriguez of having “dangerous judgment” when it comes to matters of…
Today’s New York Sun has a piece on the pro-Israel crowd’s discontent with the choice of former Rep. David Bonior.
New York Magazine asks if the co-chairman of Loews Corporation might consider a run for mayor…
In a historic vote, leaders of Conservative Judaism on Wednesday approved a rabbinic opinion allowing ordination of gay and lesbian rabbis and sanctioning same-sex unions. The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards — the 25-member lawmaking body of the Conservative movement — opted to follow the rabbinic tradition of approving separate, mutually contradictory opinions, each…
A promient Middle East scholar, Dr. Kenneth W. Stein, announced his resignation as a fellow of Emory University’s Carter Center, in response to former President Jimmy Carter’s new book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” Stein, an Emory University professor who also directs the university’s Middle East Research Program and the Emory Institute for the Study of…
Here’s the press release put out by the Israeli consulate: As part of his ongoing dialogue with the congressional delegation from the tri-state area, Ambassador Arye Mekel, Consul General of Israel, met Wednesday with Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY), the Ranking Member on the House Committee of Ways and Means. The two met at the Consulate…
Here’s the clip, in response to an agitated caller on C-Span’s BookTV.
As the debate rages over Rep.-elect Keith Ellison’s decison to take his oath of office over the Koran, instead of the Bible – Ellison will be the first Muslim to serve in the U.S. Congress – it is worth noting that Jewish elected officials have insisted on using the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, for swearing-in…
Don’t blame me if this week’s column is a bit technical. It’s by popular demand. No fewer than five readers have written to question the statement in my column of November 10 that “classical Hebrew never had a soft ‘g’ or a character representing it.” All five of you cite the same two facts: 1)…
Two of America’s most influential Jewish organizations are gearing up for their first direct confrontation with the incoming, Democratic-led Congress. The topic: Democratic proposals for congressional ethics and lobbying reform. At issue are two key congressional perks, targeted for elimination, that Jewish organizations rely on to achieve community goals: overseas junkets, including dozens of trips…
