Category: Events
Dear Friends,
On behalf of the NORPAC membership and its officers, we applaud the leadership of President Donald Trump in his announcement anticipated this afternoon recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the American embassy to that capital. This action fulfills the commitment made by Congress in the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, a legislative effort that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.
This move sends a strong message to the international community that Israel and the Jewish people have a legitimate and long-standing history and bond with the city of Jerusalem, a city that to this day allows a level of religious freedom found nowhere else in the Middle East. We strongly believe that recognition of the objective truth – that, beginning three thousand years ago, Jerusalem has been the capital of all Jewish states – will in the long run make peace more, rather than less, likely. The President’s announcement also reinforces to the world that America and the current President keeps its promises.
We congratulate Congress for the legislation that made this move possible as well as those in the Administration who have helped to make this move a reality: Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, Ambassador David Friedman, Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and most of all President Donald Trump.
We look forward to the embassy relocation scheduled to take place six months from now, and once again express our gratitude to the Administration for this very important and meaningful action.
God bless America, its great people, and its valiant leadership.
Sincerely,
Ben Chouake, MD (Dr. Ben)
NORPAC National President
Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY) will be joining us for a NORPAC Teaneck event at the home of Phil & Rochelle Goldschmiedt on Sunday morning, November 12th.
Eliot Engel is the Ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He has been one of the leading advocates of the US-Israel relationship for almost three decades in Congress.
Engel often co-introduces pro-Israel legislation with Republican Members in order to keep these issues bipartisan. He co-authored the overwhelmingly-supported H.R.1698 – Iran Ballistic Missiles and International Sanctions Enforcement Act – along with Committee Chairman Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), imposing non-nuclear sanctions on Tehran’s belligerent ballistic missile development program.
Last year, Reps. Royce and Engel, along with 367 other House Members, sent a bipartisan letter to Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, urging him to condemn violence against Israelis and end incitement to violence within the Palestinian Authority.
In 2015, Congressman Engel took a brave stance in opposing the Iran Deal (JCPOA) in the face of great pressure to vote otherwise. He deserves recognition for his vote against this very troubling agreement.
Please join us in support of Congressman Engel, and share your concerns about the US-Israel relationship with him at this event. If you are interested in supporting this event, please contact Avi Schranz at Avi@norpac.net
NORPAC welcomes Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) to an event chaired by Marion & William Weiss and The Gontownik Family in Englewood on September 17th.
Deb Fischer is the senior senator from Nebraska, and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012. In her capacity as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, she is focused on ensuring that our nation has a nuclear deterrent that is modern and effective. This subcommittee also has direct oversight of U.S. Strategic Command, which is located in Nebraska. Fischer is also a member of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s leadership team, serving as counsel to the Majority Leader as well as a member of Senator John Cornyn’s Whip Team.
In January 2013, Senator Deb Fischer, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, traveled to Israel with fellow senators on an official visit to meet with political and military leaders and learn more about the situation in the Middle East. In Israel, the group also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “That is not just a concern for the country of Israel, that is a concern for the United States of America as well,” Fischer says. “And, the prime minister stressed that that what happens in that region of the world has a direct effect on citizens in the United States.”.
In December 2003, Israel banned beef imports from the United States due to a confirmed case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Washington state. Senator Fischer played an instrumental role in lifting this ban.
During a visit by Senator Fischer to Israel in the fall of 2015, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro asked her to work with the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to bring Nebraska beef to Israel. Senator Fischer worked collaboratively with USDA and officials from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture to lift the ban on U.S. beef imports.
If you are interested in supporting this event, please contact Avi Schranz at Avi@norpac.net
Yocheved & Donald Liss welcome back Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ9) to an event at their home in Riverdale, NY on September 14th.
Kyrsten represents Arizona’s Ninth Congressional District, having joined in 2013 after serving in the Arizona Senate and House of Representatives, and currently sits on the House Committee on Financial Services.
Congresswoman Sinema was one of just 25 members of her party to vote against the 2015 Iran Deal (“JCPOA”) in the House of Representatives. Her name appears as a sponsor of virtually every bipartisan piece of legislation in support of the US-Israel relationship.
She visited Israel in 2009, which she described as an “eye-opening experience.” She strongly believes in Israel’s right to self-defense, and the need for the U.S. to support bilateral negotiations. She is wary of a Palestinian unity government with Hamas, and has called for penalties on any such entity.
Even before serving as a Member of Congress, Kyrsten supported HB 2151 in the Arizona State House. The bill divests state pension funds from companies that have holdings or business interests in Iran.
If you are interested in supporting this event, please contact Avi Schranz at Avi@norpac.net
NORPAC Long Island welcomes back sophomore Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-NY) at an event hosted by Esther & Baruch Wienstein on Tuesday, August 15th.
Zeldin represents parts of Long Island in a district that includes most of Central and Eastern Suffolk County. As the sole Jewish Republican in the House of Representatives, he has been a vocal advocate of US-Israel relations. In his position on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Lee has worked across the aisle to ensure pro-Israel bills are kept strong and supported by both parties.
During the last Session he supported legislation requiring the Administration to submit any IAEA side deals with Iran 60 days before the agreement is allowed to be enacted.
Contact Avi Schranz at avi@norpac.net for more information.
Eliot & Marilyn Lauer welcome Congressman Ed Royce (R-CA) to their kickoff event for the NORPAC Long Island Chapter on Sunday, July 30th.
Congressman Royce is Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, one of the most important Congressional committees responsible for bolstering US-Israel relations. In his leadership position, Royce has authored virtually every piece of key bipartisan Iran legislation in the House, and he has been instrumental in pushing forward joint military and technological cooperation bills.
Royce was the Principal Republican Sponsor of the Nuclear Iran Prevention Act of 2013 (H.R. 850) which NORPAC members advocated for during our Mission to Washington that year and passed overwhelmingly in the House of Representatives by a vote of 400 – 20.
Contact Avi Schranz at avi@norpac.net for more information.
On Thursday evening, June 22nd, Rella Feldman & Curtiss Pulitzer welcome Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) to a NORPAC event in Teaneck.
In 2006, Claire McCaskill became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri, winning the seat once held by Harry Truman. In 2015, she was named the top-ranking Democrat on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations – formerly the Truman Committee and the Senate’s leading oversight panel. As a member of the Senate Contracting Subcommittee, McCaskill has sought stronger sanctions against the anti-Israel regime in Iran and enforcement of those sanctions. She also serves as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee which oversees funding to joint-developed US-Israel anti-missile technology.
Contact Avi Schranz at avi@norpac.net for more information.
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Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) – April 30th
NORPAC welcomes Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to an event in Teaneck hosted by Dr. Robert & Sarah Goodman on April 30th.
Cardin was one of four members of his party in the Senate to vote against the Iran deal, despite tremendous pressure from the Administration to do otherwise. He has always stood as a leader for the introduction and co-sponsorship of bipartisan pro-Israel legislation. His leadership position on the Foreign Relations committee since 2015 has given him even greater agency to help bolster the US-Israel relationship.
In March, Cardin co-introduced, along with Sen the bipartisan Israel Anti-Boycott Act, legislation to further combat the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. The bill would formally state Congress’s opposition to the UNHRC resolutions to create a “blacklist” and boycott. The legislation would also ensure that the Export Import Bank considers BDS issues when evaluating potential credit applications.
Please join us in support of Senator Cardin, and share your concerns about the US-Israel relationship with him at this event.
To participate in this event, please contact avi@norpac.net.
Below please find the link to a superb research dossier about J Street by The Investigative Project, led by Steve Emerson, who is an American patriot, smart, articulate and a man of integrity.
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J Street and its affiliate organizations, JStreetPAC, J Street Education Fund, and J Street U, claim to be “pro Israel” but routinely adopt anti-Israel positions, provide a platform to Israel “bashers” and offer tacit support to the BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanctions) campaign against the Jewish state. The organization, founded and headed by Jeremy Ben Ami, is a major supporter of the Iran nuclear deal, engages in anti-Israel activism and partnerships on U.S. college campuses, and collaborates with leading Islamist and other anti-Israel groups in the U.S. to host conferences and other events that espouse virulently anti-Israel rhetoric.
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You can find the dossier here.