Conference of Presidents welcomes ceasefire plan, calls on Hamas to accept
(JNS) — The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza following the terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, stating it “offers a credible path forward and the prospect of a new reality in Gaza and the broader Middle East.”
In a statement from Betsy Berns Korn and William Daroff, chair and CEO, respectively, the group also called on Hamas to accept the deal, saying “the burden now rests squarely” on the terror group.
“If Hamas rejects the plan, Israel will act decisively with the full backing of the United States,” read the statement. “The framework, which includes placing Gaza under a transitional international authority and securing the hostages’ release, has the support of the United States, Israel and key regional partners.”
“Israel’s soldiers made this moment of hope possible,” the statement continued. “Now the international community must hold Hamas to account, sustain pressure and enforce compliance. Peace will come only when Hamas disarms, frees the hostages and releases Gaza from its grip, opening the way to the day after.”
Federal government shutdown drags into Yom Kippur, pausing Senate negotiations
(JTA) — The U.S. federal government will last at least into Friday after the Senate paused budget talks to accommodate Yom Kippur.
The government shut down at midnight Wednesday night amid a standoff between Democratic and Republican senators over competing spending bills. Talks to end the shutdown, the first since the record-breaking 35-day freeze in 2018, immediately paused for two days for the Jewish holiday, which began Wednesday evening and ended Thursday evening.
The break made senators — not to mention the 750,000 federal employees whose paychecks were in limbo — acutely aware of the Jewish calendar. Yom Kippur is Judaism’s holiest day.
“We’re not going to be working Thursday because it’s a Jewish holiday, but we’re planning on, right now, having votes on Friday and maybe Saturday, probably Saturday, maybe Sunday,” Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, told NBC News. “A lot of that is determined by how many people we have here.”
“The idea is to not vote over Yom Kippur and then come back in,” said Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming. “We’ll continue to vote.”
The shutdown hinges on Democrats’ demands to include health care funding in the spending bill, which President Donald Trump and Republican senators have said they are open to negotiating only at a later date.
Trump withdraws nomination for E.J. Antoni, economist who praised Nazi warship
(JTA) — President Trump has withdrawn his nomination for right-wing economist E.J. Antoni, who had called a Nazi warship “hard not to love,” to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The White House did not give a reason for Antoni’s withdrawal this week, which came shortly before the federal government shut down. Antoni has not commented about either his nomination or his withdrawal on social media.
Other economists had criticized the Heritage Foundation staffer for what was seen as a desire to politicize the monthly U.S. jobs report, which the nominated position would oversee. He was also present at the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riots as a “bystander” who did not enter the Capitol, according to the White House. The position would have required Senate confirmation.
During his regular appearances on conservative TV news, Antoni also prominently displayed artwork of the Bismarck, a technologically advanced World War II battleship built by the Nazis. The ship sank in 1941 after sustaining extensive damage from the British fleet.
On social media Antoni has praised the Bismarck as “hard not to love.” One historian of the Bismarck told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that such a view was similar to how other military enthusiasts have viewed the ship, though others are careful to distinguish its craftsmanship from its Nazi aims.
DOJ cites law designed to protect abortion clinics in suit against pro-Palestinian synagogue protesters
(JTA) — The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit against pro-Palestinian protesters who demonstrated at a New Jersey synagogue last year, citing a federal law originally designed to protect abortion clinics.
The complaint, filed by the U.S. Justice Department on Monday, appears to mark the first time that the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which was enacted in 1994 to protect abortion clinics from violent protests, has been applied to protesters at a house of worship.
“No American should be harassed, targeted, or discriminated against for peacefully practicing their religion,” U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement Monday. “Today’s lawsuit underscores this Department of Justice’s commitment to defending Jewish Americans — and all Americans of faith — from those who would threaten their right to worship.”
While the Trump administration ordered in January that prosecutors only invoke the FACE Act under “extraordinary circumstances,” the federal government’s latest application of the law uses a section of it that prohibits the use of physical force or intimidation to prevent people from exercising their religious freedom at a place of religious worship.
The lawsuit alleges that two pro-Palestinian groups and some demonstrators engaged in “threats of force, intimidation, and violent conduct” against the congregants of Congregation Ohr Torah, a Modern Orthodox synagogue in West Orange, New Jersey, in November.
