Harmeet Dhillon resigns from Justice Department
(JNS)—Harmeet Dhillon, U.S. assistant attorney general for civil rights, who led the Department of Justice’s efforts to file lawsuits against universities accused of antisemitism, resigned on Thursday.
“Today, I accepted the resignation of assistant attorney general Harmeet Dhillon, who led the civil rights division with conviction the past 18 months,” stated Todd Blanche, U.S. attorney general.
“She has defended the civil liberties of every American and enforced the law without fear or favor,” he stated. “The department is grateful for her dedicated public service, and we wish her every success in her future endeavors.”
As the head of the department’s civil rights division, Dhillon was at the forefront of the Trump administration’s efforts to investigate and sue schools like Harvard University for alleged discrimination against Jews in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel.
The department has had a mixed record in those lawsuits and investigations, with some schools like the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reaching settlements with the administration, while the Harvard lawsuit was dismissed in August.
Dhillon reportedly clashed within the department with Leo Terrell, head of the Justice Department-led task force on combating Jew-hatred, who was tapped at the start of the second Trump term to serve as Dhillon’s senior counsel.
The New York Times reported in August that the two had disagreed about negotiations with Columbia University to settle complaints of anti-Jewish discrimination against it, which expanded into a personal dispute about Terrell’s television appearances and the tenor of email exchanges between the two.
“The wrong people are in charge,” Terrell told the outlet.
The California Republican Party said that it was “grateful” for Dhillon’s service.
“She has been a tireless advocate for the Constitution, free speech, religious liberties, the Second Amendment, election integrity, the California Republican Party and the conservative movement,” it said.
‘By the end of this year, we won’t be paying Israel,’ Trump says
(JNS)—U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview on Tuesday that he agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut off U.S. aid to the Jewish state by the end of the year.
Speaking on Fox News, Trump said that the annual aid money had become a political liability that has been exploited by anti-Israel candidates like Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan.
“As far as paying Israel, Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal that we give Israel $4 billion a year, and we made a deal months ago that we’re stopping,” Trump said. “They’re fine with it, because they’ve become a very successful country. They don’t need it, and we won’t be paying any more.”
“By the end of this year we won’t be paying Israel,” he said. “We’ll help Israel if they need it.”
Under the terms of the 10-year memorandum of understanding that Israel and the United States agreed to during the Obama administration, Israel has received $3.8 billion in military aid since the 2019 fiscal year and is due to continue receiving that money through the 2028 fiscal year.
For first time in decades, Texas elects Dem to Senate, as GOP faces nationwide rout
(JNS)—Texas turned blue on Tuesday with the election of a Democrat to represent the Lone Star State in the Senate for the first time since 1988 and Republicans facing a nationwide collapse in longtime GOP strongholds.
Texas state House member James Talarico defeated his Republican opponent Ken Paxton, the state attorney general, with nearly 60% of the vote and more than 70% of votes counted. The Associated Press called the race for Talarico about two hours after polls closed.
Democrats also won the Texas governor’s mansion for the first time in decades, with state representative Gina Hinojosa leading Gov. Greg Abbott by about 1 million votes at press time.
The race to replace Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who lost his primary to Paxton after falling out of favor with U.S. President Donald Trump, was the most expensive Senate race in American history with more than $500 million spent by the two campaigns.
With its 40 electoral votes in presidential elections, Texas will likely be the crowning achievement for Democrats in an election that is shaping up to be an historic disaster for Republicans.
J Street poll: Democracy was top Jewish voter concern in midterms, not Israel or antisemitism
(JTA)—The liberal Jewish Middle East policy group released its poll of national Jewish voters, which surveyed 800 people from Oct. 28 to Nov. 3. It found that 44% of respondents named the future of democracy as a key issue, while 21% named antisemitism (the third-most-popular response) and 14% cited Israel (the fifth-most-popular). The second ranked issue was the cost of living, at 34%.
J Street found that 31% of respondents backed ending all military aid to Israel, and would agree with some left-wing candidate rhetoric that described its conduct in Gaza as a genocide. That number jumped up to 60% for Jews under 35.
Asked whether the defense aid should continue, 39% said yes, with conditions – which is consistent with J Street’s policy – and 30% said yes, with no conditions.
CAIR suspends Florida operations following state domestic terror designation
(JNS)—The Council on American-Islamic Relations has suspended operations in Florida as the state’s designation of the group as a domestic terrorist organization takes effect.
The announcement came on Nov. 5, a day after Chief U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor of the Northern District of Florida declined to block the designation. Winsor granted CAIR limited relief, however, allowing the organization to continue receiving legal services while its federal lawsuit proceeds.
“We have suspended our operations in Florida because of Gov. DeSantis and other state officials’ baseless and unconstitutional enforcement of the state’s unprecedented new ‘domestic terrorist organization’ laws against us,” CAIR-Florida stated on its website. The site’s homepage now displays the message against a black background.
In a Nov. 4 order, Winsor granted CAIR’s request for an injunction only insofar as it protects the organization, its employees and third parties providing it with legal services from prosecution under the state’s material-support law. The injunction takes effect upon the posting of a $1,000 bond.
Winsor wrote in his ruling that the issue was not whether CAIR is a terrorist organization, but rather that it had not shown sufficient legal grounds to block the designation while its lawsuit proceeds.
“Florida is holding CAIR accountable,” Gov. Ron DeSantis stated.
DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet voted on Sept. 29 to designate CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, while designating more than 90 other organizations as foreign terrorist organizations. State officials accused CAIR of ties to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
