August 17, 2018
Mary Gay Scanlon, candidate for Congress in PA-5 with JAC member Deborah Gordon Klehr, who delivered JAC support to the candidate.
(l to r: Mary Gay Scanlon, Deborah Gordon Klehr)
JAC met with Kara Eastman, Congressional Candidate for NE-2. (l to r: Marcia Balonick, Hollis Wein,
Kristine Schanbacher, Kara Eastman, Linda Rae Sher)
JAC member Rhoda Mains (l) delivered JAC support to Margaret Kelliher (r), candidate for U.S. Congress in MN-5.
It's all up to the millennials.  They will be voting, hopefully in force, this November. Also, millennial candidates will significantly change the make-up and direction of the next Congress. Their diversity and fresh approach to our nation's problems are desperately needed.

These young, progressive candidates are embracing issues that are on the forefront of their generation such as student debt, healthcare and gender equality. But where does Israel fit into their issue package?

Today Israel generally receives overwhelming support in Congress in terms of foreign aid. Over the years, the U.S. and Israel have developed a close strategic partnership which encompasses security, energy, and business areas. Israel and the U.S. are close partners in the effort to fight terrorism.  

It wasn't always like this. When JAC was founded in 1980, many friends of Israel in Congress were defeated by the Radical Right and political groups that opposed Israel and the values of mainstream American Jewry.  

In the decades that followed, JAC has remained committed to the U.S.-Israel relationship as its core issue, while defending social policies consistent with the priorities of the American Jewish community.  

More white nationalists are running for state or federal office than in any other election in modern history, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.   Some candidates have shied away from issuing a public position on Israel and BDS. Others have called Israel an "apartheid regime" and "occupier" and have pledged to slash aid to Israel.

It is up to us to continue to advocate for strong support for Israel with our candidates and elected officials. Let's have an open and honest discussion about Israel, but not apply a double standard or delegitimize it.

Support for Israel can never be taken for granted. Complacency is dangerous.
________________________________________
 
Do you know a high school or college student who would like to intern at JAC during the school year or next summer? Call the JAC office at 847.433.5999 about opportunities. 

TAKE ACTION

 
Tell your Senators to vote NO on 
 
Brett Kavanuagh's
SCOTUS Nomination 
  
If he is confirmed to the Supreme Court, all of our issues will be in jeopardy based on his history of extremist views. 
  
202.224.3121 
________________________ 
   
Issues that will be in danger if he is confirmed include: 
  • Reproductive Rights
  • Access to contraception
  • Immigration
  • Marriage Equality
  • Separation of Religion and State
  • Environmental regulations
  • and more
For more information and actions to #StopKavanaugh, click here for our Stop Kavanaugh Toolkit 
___________________________
 
#StopKavanaugh #VoteNO  
 
ISRAEL
Israel Commits to Gaza Reconstruction in Hamas Cease-Fire Deal          

Israel has committed to the reconstruction of Gaza and discussing the possibility of airports and seaports in the Hamas-controlled coastal territory. Details have begun to emerge regarding these and other terms of the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. Its implementation began Wednesday following months of escalating tensions between the two sides.   
Israel-Hamas Ceasefire to Last a Year, Deal Includes Sea Lane to Cyprus
  
A reported truce agreement aimed at calming weeks of border clashes and violent exchanges between Israel and Hamas on the border with the Gaza Strip will last for a year and see the establishment of a cargo shipping connection between Gaza and Cyprus.           
Israeli Source Confirms: Netanyahu Met Egyptian Intelligence Minister     
  
The head of Egyptian intelligence Major General Abbas Kamel met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli sources confirmed. Kamel arrived to Israel as the guest of Meir Ben Shabat, the head of the National Security Council.  According to previous reports with Arab sources, Kamel met with Israeli officials and spoke about a possible prisoner exchange deal and  updated them on the results of the recent talks between Hamas and Fatah in Egypt.   
Continued Reading


 
ANTI-SEMITISM & BDS
Franklin Graham Compares Chelsea Clinton's Views on Abortion with Hitler's Views on 'Killing the Jews'
 
Evangelist leader and vocal Trump supporter Franklin Graham went after Chelsea Clinton for saying women's access to abortion helped boost the economy, saying that Hitler probably claimed that "killing the Jews" would be good for the German economy.   
Missouri Republican Who Said 'Hitler Was Right' Wins State House Primary
 
Steve West, who has made anti-Semitic and other bigoted statements, handily won a primary for the state's House of Representatives.  "Looking back in history, unfortunately, Hitler was right about what was taking place in Germany. And who was behind it," he said in an 2017 interview.     
Continued Reading


 
CHOICE
Supreme Court Nomination Reignites Abortion Fights in States

The possibility of another Trump nominee ascending to the Supreme Court bench has created a sense of urgency among abortion supporters in the states, where activists are pushing to safeguard access to the procedure.  Supporters of abortion rights are encouraging state lawmakers to scrub unenforced laws banning or restricting abortion off the books, should the Supreme Court throw the decision on whether abortion should be legal back to the states.   
What Doctors Should Expect If 'Roe' Falls
 
Doctors, including those who have kept abortion in the distance and out of your practices, will be in professional jeopardy. Expect every medical decision to be questioned. Expect more pregnancy complications in your offices.
The Doctor Doesn't Listen to Her. But the Media Is Starting To.
 
Stories of neglect within women's health care, especially women's sexual and reproductive health care, are bubbling up to the surface -- being documented, circulated, and acknowledged by public discourse-in curious abundance. Tennis great Serena Williams, who gave birth in September 2017, shared how she had to urgently insist to the hospital staff that what she was experiencing after her C-section was a pulmonary embolism in order to get the treatment she needed to stay alive.  
Continued Reading


 
SEPARATION
The Church of Trump 

You could list all Trump's scandals and it would not (at least in the eyes of his supporters) be disqualifying.  Miraculously, he remains on top. This year, Gallup has registered an approval rating among the members of his own party ranging from 81 to 90 percent. Is it Trump-or something larger than Trump? Possibly, it's both. Here is a look at the increasing secularization of American society and how it had contributed to the rise of political tribalism.    
Labor Department Bolsters Faith Exemptions from Nondiscrimination Laws 

The government has a duty to allow contractors to be excused from federal anti-discrimination laws if they cite a religious reason for doing so, according to a new directive from the U.S. Department of Labor. The order, issued Aug. 10, is another sign of the Trump administration's determination to accommodate religious conservatives, who have made freedom to act on one's beliefs a signal issue at home and abroad    
Continued Reading


 
BEYOND THE CORE
After Parkland, States Pass 50 New Gun Control Laws

This was a year of unparalleled success for the gun control movement in the U.S.  States, including 14 with Republican governors, enacted new laws restricting access to guns, ranging from banning bump stocks to allowing authorities to temporarily disarm potentially violent people. "Legislators are starting to realize that mass shootings can happen in their state anytime. And they don't want to be in a position that this kind of thing can happen," said Giffords Law Center attorney.  
Trump's EPA Is Poisoning Our Children

In its zeal to enhance the profits of fossil-fuel, chemical, and other industrial polluters, the Trump administration is exposing many millions of American children to dangerous and often life-threatening poisons and contaminants. Lead, asbestos, poisonous insecticides, fossil-fuel emissions, and many other toxic pollutants contaminate our air, water, food, and homes. Children's central-nervous, immune, and other systems are still undeveloped, and exposure to toxic substances can cause irreversible damage. Even a fetus is at risk if a woman is exposed to toxins during pregnancy. 
For Former Felons, Voting Rights Could Be a Click Away

Millions of new voters could register across the country, starting Tuesday, with the launch of an online tool meant to help former felons restore their right to vote. The Campaign Legal Center's website attempts to guide users through a sometimes confusing jumble of state laws to determine whether past convictions or unpaid fines would keep them from the ballot box. It is the latest salvo in a growing movement to politically empower formerly incarcerated people, a group that is disproportionately African American.
Continued Reading




COURT WATCH
Trump's Supreme Court Pick Calls Antonin Scalia a 'Role Model' and a 'Judicial Hero'
  
President Donald Trump has extolled the late conservative icon Antonin Scalia, and so has his new nominee for the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh. In some of his most forceful speeches in recent years, Kavanaugh has referred to the conservative justice who served from 1986-2016 as a "role model" and a "hero."       
Kavanaugh Could Unlock Funding for Religious Education, School Voucher Advocates Say     
  
Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, in a speech last year, gave a strong hint at his views on taxpayer support for religious schools when he praised his "first judicial hero," Justice William Rehnquist, for determining that the strict wall between church and state "was wrong as a matter of law and history." Over his decades-long legal career, Judge Kavanaugh has argued in favor of breaking down barriers between church and state.
How a Supreme Court Shaped by Trump Could Restrict Access to Abortion      
  
If the court does hear a case that brings up the issue of legalized abortion, it is hardly clear that it would take the drastic step of overruling Roe v Wade. The court could instead opt for a more incremental strategy, upholding increasingly severe restrictions in much of the country but stopping short of saying that the Constitution has nothing to say about a right to abortion.
POLITICAL BYTE
As More Women Run for Office, U.S. State Legislatures Are Poised to Change
  
As women line up to run for U.S. political office at historic rates, state legislatures - where some of America's most critical policy decisions get made - could see a slew of new female lawmakers after November's vote, according to a Reuters analysis of election data.       
By Overturning Ballot Initiatives, More Lawmakers Are Rejecting the Will of Their Voters    
  
In June, voters in Washington DC made a decisive choice to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour for restaurant workers and others who earn tips.  Less than 24 hours later, council members were already trying to overturn the decision. "It's not really the will of the people; it happens to be the will of the 17 percent of people who showed up and voted."  This fight reflects a national trend in which state lawmakers are persistently working to overturn decisions made by voters at the ballot box.   
Dems Say They'll Sue to Keep Collins on Ballot
  
Democrats are threatening to take the GOP to court to keep Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), who's been charged with insider trading, on the November ballot. New York Democrats believe they have a better shot of flipping the red, Buffalo-area seat if the embattled congressman's name stays on the ballot, and they want to keep Republicans from replacing him with a potentially less toxic candidate.     
FYI
Watch Ruth Bader Ginsburg Get Sworn in to the Supreme Court for Her 25th Anniversary
 
On August 10, 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg took her judicial oath at the White House, becoming the first Jewish woman and only the second woman justice ever appointed to the Supreme Court. There are many reasons the nation loves Ginsburg (her intense workout included), but her work as a feminist trailblazer started way before she took a seat on the highest court in the land.   
How Jill Wine-Banks Uses Witty Pins to Express Her Progressive Politics
 
There are lots of ways to get your political message across: hanging a rainbow flag out your window, donning a Dump Trump T-shirt, or if you are former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks, wearing a different brooch each time you are on TV to express your commitment to a progressive agenda.   
JAC II
Introducing JACII, a JAC group for young professionals, advocates, and those young at heart who are looking to get involved. Groups have started in Detroit, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

Events will feature elected officials and speakers in lively settings. JACII is by and for young people. Now is the perfect time to get involved. 

Know someone who would be interested in joining or hosting a meeting? Let us know at [email protected]. We will be happy to help organize a JACII in your city.
The Last Word
"Through your (Trump) actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation."


Retired Navy Adm. William McRaven
 

Reception in support of
Rep. Bill Foster (IL-11)
Sunday, August 26
Highland Park, IL
Call JAC office for details.
847.433.5999  
__________________________________
 
JAC GOTV
Join JAC in Las Vegas as we Get Out the Vote for
Rep. Jacky Rosen (Senate Candidate)
Susie Lee (Congressional Candidate NV-3)
and Steven Horsford (Congressional Candidate NV-4) 
October 4-7
Details to come. Call the JAC office for more information.
847.433.5999 
  
Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs (JACPAC) is a pro-Israel PAC with a domestic agenda. We support a strong U.S.-Israel relationship and advocate for reproductive health and the separation of religion and state and incorporate other issues of importance to the Jewish community, including gun violence prevention and climate change. In addition to providing financial support for U.S. Senate and House campaigns, JACPAC educates our membership with outreach events designed to inform and activate their participation in the political process.
Federal law requires political committees to report the name, mailing address, occupation and employer for each individual who contributes over $200 in a calendar year. Maximum contribution per person may not exceed $5,000 per calendar year. According to law, JACPAC cannot accept corporate contributions. Membership, gifts, or other payments to JACPAC are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.