Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sudden death is a huge loss for Evangelicals, the pro-life & pro-Israel cause, and the US military – I’ve lost a friend, too

We first met because he wanted to talk about Iran and Apocalyptic Islamism.

Prime Minister Netanyahu with US Senator Lindsey Graham. (Credit: GPO/Amos Ben Gershom)

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – I’m in absolute shock that my friend, Sen. Lindsey Graham, has died so suddenly and unexpectedly.

He was only 71.

Fox News anchor Shannon Bream first connected us about 15 years ago at a little dinner party she and Sheldon hosted at The Monocle Restaurant on Capitol Hill for the release of one of my novels.

What do the Democrats want from Israel?

Senate Democrats haven’t turned on the Jewish state because the Netanyahu government is reckless. It’s because they fear a party base of deluded antisemites.

Jonathan S. Tobin

Sens. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) look on during a hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., on March 12, 2026. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.

The headline published by the far-left outlet The Intercept was spot on, even if most of the information in its article was slanted or downright false. In declaring that, “The Dam Breaks: Democratic Senators Overwhelmingly Reject Arms Sales to Israel,” the rabidly anti-Israel publication said nothing less than the truth. In the last year, the last vestiges of pro-Israel sentiment in the Democratic Party have more or less collapsed.

Republican senators move to facilitate suing UNRWA over support for Hamas

The Limiting Immunity for Assisting Backers of Lethal Extremism Act specifically targets the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip, July 26, 2018. Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90.

(May 2, 2025 / JNS)  Republican senators have introduced legislation to allow American victims of terrorism to sue international organizations that back terror groups, which are immune under existing law.

The Limiting Immunity for Assisting Backers of Lethal Extremism Act specifically targets the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the bill’s chief sponsor, said the U.N. group has “for decades knowingly provided support to Hamas terrorists, including salaries and materials.”

GOP lawmakers urge Trump to back Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria

"This region is the heart of our shared Judeo-Christian heritage and recognition of the right of Israel to declare sovereignty over this region would build upon your previous recognition of the importance of this heritage," the letter reads.

Then-US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman with Head of Efrat regional council Oded Revivi and heads of local councils in Judea and Samaria during a visit in the Jewish community of Efrat, in Gush Etzion, Feb. 20, 2020. Photo by Gershon Elinson/Flash90.

(Feb. 26, 2025 / JNS)  A group of Republican lawmakers, led by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.), is urging President Donald Trump to recognize Judea and Samaria as Israeli territory.

In a letter sent to the president on Tuesday and published by Fox News, members of the Friends of Judea and Samaria Caucus on Capitol Hill stressed the region’s significance to the “shared Judeo-Christian heritage” and expressed strong support for Jerusalem applying sovereignty over the area.

NOTICIA ULTIMA HORA ISRAEL - DONALD TRUMP HABLA DEL EL ANTI SEMITISMO EN ESTADOS UNIDOS ¿QUÉ TRAMA?

https://www.youtube.com/live/FTrkyyQ1JWw

Trump warns: If Harris wins, terrorists will wage unceasing war to drive Jews from holy land

Trump addresses GOP Jewish event, honors slain hostage, then stirs controversy. He claims Jewish Biden supporters need "heads examined" and warns Israel won't survive under Harris presidency.

By HANNAH SARISOHN

REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL nominee and former US president Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in North Carolina, last week. The regime in Tehran is particularly alarmed at the prospect of Trump’s return to the White House, says the writer.(photo credit: Jonathan Drake/Reuters)

Chants of “fight, fight, fight” echoed with the applause welcoming former President Donald Trump to the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual summit in Las Vegas on Thursday.

Netanyahu’s speech lays a trap for the Biden administration

The prime minister rallies Congress against the administration's attempts to reach an accommodation with Tehran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint session of Congress on July 24, 2024. Credit: Kent Nishimura/Getty Images.

(July 28, 2024 / JNS)  The media mostly discussed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fourth speech before a joint session of the two houses of Congress in terms of performance, which even his detractors conceded was masterful. They did not ask, however, about Netanyahu’s aims, which they seemed to assume were self-evident. But they were not. The speech laid a major trap for the Biden administration. Since the trap was hiding in plain sight, it was easy to miss.

Netanyahu is right to reject vassal-state etiquette

The prime minister broke protocol by calling out the Biden administration for slow-walking arms shipments. Washington’s real goal, however, is appeasing Iran and toppling him.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony at Nachalat Yitzhak cemetery in Tel Aviv for victims of the 1948 “Altalena” ship incident on June 18, 2024. Photo by Shaul Golan/POOL.

(June 21, 2024 / JNS)  As far as the White House and Democrats are concerned, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doing it again. Similar to multiple occasions during the presidency of Barack Obama, Netanyahu is not playing by the rules Washington and the foreign-policy establishment believe are laid down to govern the behavior of client states.

Netanyahu hablará en una sesión conjunta del Congreso de EEUU, anuncia el líder republicano

Benjamín Netanyahu habla ante el Congreso de EE. UU. el 3 de mayo de 2015 Foto: GPO / Amos Ben Gershom

El presidente de la Cámara de Representantes de Estados Unidos, el republicano Mike Johnson, anunció que el primer ministro, Benjamín Netanyahu, se dirigiría «pronto», sin especificar una fecha, a una sesión conjunta del Congreso estadounidense.

«Creo que esta será una muestra oportuna y de muy fuerte apoyo al Gobierno israelí en su momento de mayor necesidad», dijo el republicano en un discurso en la recepción anual del Día de la Independencia de la Embajada de Israel en Washington.

El parlamento de Estados Unidos aprueba por 377 votos a favor y 44 en contra q la frase ” Palestina libre del río al mar” es antisemita

Todos los integrantes del 'Escuadrón' progresista votaron en contra de la medida

Por: Elizabeth Elkind

La Cámara de Representantes aprobó el martes una resolución condenando un canto de un activista pro palestino como antisemita, pero 43 demócratas y un republicano votaron en contra.

Una resolución liderada por el Partido Republicano en la Cámara de Representantes presentada por el representante Anthony D’Esposito, republicano por Nueva York, para criticar formalmente el uso de la frase “Desde el río hasta el mar, Palestina será libre” fue aprobada en una votación de 377 a 44.

Como ha sido el caso con la mayoría de los temas relacionados con Israel, la medida dividió al Partido Demócrata, y los

Trump: Biden está “100% a favor de los palestinos. No entiendo cómo los judíos pueden votar a los demócratas”

Donald Trump Foto: Liam Enea Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0 vía Wikimedia Commons

«Cualquier judío que vote por Biden no ama a Israel y, francamente, se le debe hablar: cómo una persona judía puede votar por Biden o por un demócrata porque están 100% de lado de los palestinos, y no sabe cómo librarse de eso», manifestó Trump durante una entrevista ofrecida a la cadena conservadora Real America’s Voice.

«Francamente, es increíble que históricamente el pueblo judío vote por los demócratas. No lo entiendo», apuntó el

Sledgehammer review: David Friedman comes out swinging on Trump and Israel

The former US ambassador has written a predictably unsubtle memoir, aimed squarely at the 2024 Republican primary.

Lloyd Green

David Friedman, Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump leave bankruptcy court in Camden, New Jersey, in February 2010. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

David Friedman was Donald Trump’s ambassador to Israel. But that job title alone fails to adequately convey his proximity to the 45th president and his impact on US policy. Their time together marked a repudiation of Barack Obama’s vision for the Middle East. Sledgehammer, Friedman’s memoir, reminds the reader of all of this as insistently as its title suggests.

With Friedman’s assistance, the US helped forge the Abraham Accords, normalizing relations between Israel and four Arab countries. The US also moved its embassy to Jerusalem and left the Iran nuclear deal. As for the Palestinians, put it this way: they no longer occupy rent-free space in the Republican conscience.

La Cámara de los Estados Unidos aprueba un proyecto de ley que ancla la ayuda de defensa a Israel

La Cámara de Representantes de Estados Unidos aprobó el martes por la noche un proyecto de ley de presupuesto que ancla la ayuda de defensa a Israel en la ley y promete financiar una serie de programas destinados a promover la paz en la región.

El proyecto de ley fue objeto de una importante disputa en el Congreso, pero finalmente la mayoría de los representantes demócratas votaron a favor, mientras que los republicanos votaron en contra.

CUFI: Reports of waning evangelical support for Israel are ‘fallacy’

“Our support for Israel has no bounds, has no jurisdiction. We go where the fight is. If it’s in politics, we’re there; if it’s on campus, our students are there. If it’s on social media, our employees are there,” said Sandra Hagee Parker.

BY DMITRIY SHAPIRO

Sandra Hagee Parker, chair of the CUFI Action Fund. Credit: CUFI.

(July 21, 2021 / JNS) Speaking at Christian’s United for Israel’s 2021 summit in Dallas on Monday, Sandra Hagee Parker, chair of the CUFI Action Fund and daughter of CUFI founder Pastor John Hagee, the organization’s advocacy wing, said with some force that the multiple polls indicating waning support for Israel among evangelicals are false.

Parker said she originally planned on speaking about the work her organization was doing in state capitals across the United States to support a pro-Israel agenda,

Lapid to Blinken: Mistakes were made in US-Israel relationship, we’ll fix them

In Rome, new foreign minister tells US counterpart that Jerusalem has ‘serious reservations’ about Iran nuclear deal, but promises to express them quietly.

By LAZAR BERMAN

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid meet in Rome, June 27, 2021 (Stefano Meloni, Israel Embassy Rome)

Bipartisan support for Israel in the United States was harmed during the Benjamin Netanyahu years, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Rome on Sunday.

“In the past few years, mistakes were made,” Lapid said in a statement before their

Jewish Democrats slam Omar for remarks equating Israel and US to Hamas and Taliban

A dozen stated that “ignoring the differences between democracies governed by the rule of law and contemptible organizations that engage in terrorism at best discredits one’s intended argument and at worst reflects deep-seated prejudice.”

BY SEAN SAVAGE

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) in 2019. Credit: Mike Jett/Shutterstock.

(June 10, 2021 / JNS) A dozen Jewish Democratic lawmakers have issued a statement strongly condemning recent remarks made by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who equated Israeli and U.S. actions to terrorist groups like Hamas and the Taliban.

In a tweet on Monday, she wrote: “We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity. We have seen unthinkable

Former Israeli ambassadors say Kerry’s history of conflict with Israel lends weight to Iranian accusation

The backlash over allegations that former Secretary of State John Kerry may have provided Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif inside information on Israeli military operations has sparked calls for an investigation.

BY DMITRIY SHAPIRO

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Jerusalem on Nov. 6, 2013. Photo by Miriam Alster/Flash90.

(April 29, 2021 / JNS) John Kerry, who serves as U.S. special presidential envoy for climate in the Biden administration and was secretary of state during the Obama administration, continues to face a backlash over allegations that he may have provided Iranian foreign minister and nuclear negotiator Mohammad Javad Zarif inside information on Israeli military operations.

Three Republican members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee wrote a joint letter the U.S. State Department inspector general on Wednesday to demand an investigation into whether Kerry did indeed provide information, as Zarif claimed in

The threats American Jewry refuses to face

Given the data, it makes sense that 65-75 percent of American Jews remain in a political and ideological home that is hostile to Jews. It’s a matter of priorities.

CAROLINE GLICK

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) appearing on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." Credit: Screenshot.

(April 4, 2021 / JNS) After being forced by COVID-19 restrictions to celebrate Passover alone last year, like their Israeli brethren, American Jews were by and large able to celebrate the Passover seder with their friends and families this year. And as in Israel, American Jewish families reveled in their deliverance from loneliness on the Jewish festival of deliverance.

But even the joy of Passover couldn’t dispel the twin storm clouds rising around the largest Jewish diaspora.

How CUFI has awakened the ‘sleeping giant’ of Christian Zionism

Reflecting on the organization’s 15th anniversary, Pastor John Hagee says that “the most significant achievement was bringing together millions of people from many backgrounds and denominations across America in support of one single cause—Israel and the Jewish people.”

BY SEAN SAVAGE

(March 9, 2021 / JNS) This year, Christians United for Israel, one of the most powerful voices for Israel in the United States, marked its 15th anniversary.

“We could never have imagined CUFI would achieve so much, so quickly. But God has blessed us because we are fulfilling our biblical mandate to stand with Israel and His Chosen people,” Pastor John Hagee, founder and chairman of CUFI, told JNS. “This said, I noted when we launched CUFI that there was a sleeping giant of Christian Zionism in this country. That giant has now been awakened. When

For Israeli right, Trump’s Mideast legacy will outshine his last days

The outgoing president set a new standard among Republicans for what it means to be pro-Israel.

BY ORIT ARFA

U.S. President Donald Trump at Jerusalem's Western Wall on May 22, 2017. Credit: Matty Stern/U.S. Embassy in Israel.

(January 18, 2021 / JNS) For most of the Israeli right, U.S. President Donald Trump’s pro-Israel legacy will outlive other elements of his controversial presidency, particularly his last days in office.

Pro-Trump leaders, activists and analysts said that the Jan. 6 mob invasion of the U.S. Capitol, for the most part, will not change the nationalist camp’s high regard for the Trump administration’s pro-Israel achievements, which include moving the