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Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) Tues 8/15 7:30 pm

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.

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NORPAC Long Island: Congressman Ed Royce (R-CA) Sun 7/30 5:30 pm

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.

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Senator Clair McCaskill (D-MO) – June 22nd

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.

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NORPAC Bergen: Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) 2/20

NORPAC welcomes Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ5) to an upcoming private dinner event hosted by Dr. Munr Kazmir in Closter, NJ on February 20th.

Josh Gottheimer’s district encompasses portions of Bergen, Passaic, Sussex and Warren counties, including Bergenfield, Fair Lawn, New Milford, Paramus and Teaneck. Josh graduated from West Essex High School before attending the University of Pennsylvania, later becoming a Thouron Fellow at Oxford, and then paid his way through Harvard Law School. After finishing college, Josh went on to work in the Clinton White House as one of the youngest presidential speechwriters in history.

Contact Avi Schranz at avi@norpac.net for more information.

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NORPAC Update on UN Security Council Resolutions

Dear Friends,

As you are aware, on December 23rd of last year, the UN Security Council (UNSC) voted in favor of Resolution 2334. Although not part of the text of the Resolution, implementation of the ideas behind this motion could make much of biblical Israel, including the holy sites in Jerusalem, off limits to Jews and probably to Christians as well. Given that the PA has stated there will be no Jews in a Palestinian State, and that they have already purged the vast majority of their Christian population from PA and Hamas-controlled territories, this is a very real threat.

The United States, in a reversal of decades-long policy to veto such one-sided resolutions targeted at delegitimizing Israel, abstained that day, permitting the passage of 2334, this anti-Semitic and anti-Christian resolution.

Yesterday the House of Representatives passed H.Res.11, codifying strong support and friendship between the United States and Israel through condemnation of UN Security Council Resolution 2334, a recent, extreme and dangerous anti-Israel motion. The House Resolution repudiates 2334 and makes clear that a durable and sustainable peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians will only come through direct bilateral negotiations, not one-sided anti-Israel UN resolutions. Sens. Rubio (R-FL) and Cardin (D-MD) are expected to introduce parallel legislation in the Senate.

On Tuesday, Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-CO5) introduced binding legislation against the anti-Israel UNSCR 2334. Lamborn’s bill goes further by clearly establishing that the Security Council resolution is null and void under US law.

NORPAC and its leadership have been working with other concerned leaders around the country to mitigate the effects of Resolution 2334. More importantly, it was our belief that the Kerry Speech on December 28th of last year, the upcoming Paris Conference scheduled for January 15th, and scheduled UNSC meeting on January 17th, was a cascade of events in which a pre-1967 partition plan would be drawn and a Palestinian State declared at the UN and approved by the Security Council.

Three officers of the American Jewish Congress, also of NORPAC – Jack Rosen, Dr. Munr Kazmir, and Ben Chouake – decided to go together to DC on January 3rd, the swearing-in day, and met with many Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to work on stopping the administration from implementing such a plan during its final days in office.

We spoke personally with the Senators we met at swearing-in ceremonies including Senators Bennet (D-CO), Wyden (D-OR), Gillibrand (D-NY), Warner (D-VA), and Stabenow (D-MI), and arranged for personal meetings in the offices of 9 members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including Chairman Corker (R-TN) and Ranking Member Cardin (D-MD), that day. We discussed actionable items to stop the UNSC from its untoward activity.

Resolutions, while quick and helpful, are largely ignored by the administration. Some of the ideas discussed as a response to the last UNSC resolution would be:

Immediately moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem;

Cutting discretionary spending at the UN (currently at 5 of 8 billion a year in America’s tab there);

Hold a Senate Hearing to look into the why and how of the American support and participation in this UNSC resolution;

Decreasing or halting funding to countries like Senegal, which voted for the UNSC Resolution, and having the Senate members express to the other UNSC members their displeasure at the last vote (which would mean the upcoming one)

My penultimate meeting that day was with Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ). He suggested to call members of the Democratic Caucus who were meeting with the President on the Affordable Care Act the following day, and he would also follow suit, to get a clear answer on the administration’s intentions on this matter until the end of the term.

We followed the the suggestion of Senator Menendez, but unfortunately the meeting with President Obama and the Democratic Congressional Caucus did not allow for those questions and answers.

Fortunately, on January 5th, Secretary Kerry had a meeting with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and both Senator Menendez and other Members pressed him on this issue. Senator Menendez was kind enough to call me after the meeting to inform me that Secretary Kerry clearly stated to the Committee that they do not believe the Paris Conference will amount to much on the Israel-PA issue, and that it is the intention of the United States to Veto any UNSC resolutions unfavorable to Israel that comes from the summit. When asked if that was the sentiment of the President as well, Secretary Kerry confirmed that it was.

This pledge from the Secretary of State is welcome news. We expect to continue to keep up our work to ensure, with Hashem’s blessing, that we are successful in thwarting further damage to Israel and the Peace Process in the coming weeks. We are only cautiously optimistic because this discussion was omitted on the State Department Press release on the closed meeting. We are grateful to Senator Menendez and others who have taken a lead role on stopping untoward Resolutions at the UNSC.

As we have stated in past emails, the last weeks of an administration

are fraught with peril. We thank everyone for their hard work, their confidence, and ask them to continue their prayers.

Ben Chouake, MD (Dr. Ben)

NORPAC National President

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Op-Ed: Keith Ellison and the DNC: A Troubling Pick for America’s Oldest Political Party

Read the new Op Ed by NORPAC President Dr. Ben Chouake on the candidacy of Rep. Keith Ellison for DNC Chair here.

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NORPAC Teaneck: Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH) 12/12

NORPAC welcomes back Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH) to a Teaneck event hosted by Drs. Manuel Litchman & Laurie Baumel.

During and after having served as the Chairman of the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee from 2011-2012, Steve made several trips to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu to discuss the US-Israel partnership and ways to develop more jointly cooperative programs in the military and technology spheres, respectively.

Steve recently co-signed a bipartisan letter to Ambassador Samantha Powers, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and U.S. Ambassador Crystal Nix-Hines, U.S. Permanent Representative to UNESCO, urging them to use the full voice, vote, and influence of the United States to defeat a measure that attempted to erase the Jewish connection to holy sites in Israel.

 

Contact Avi Schranz at avi@norpac.net for more information.

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NORPAC Bergen County: Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) 8/28

NORPAC welcomes back Congressman Scott Garrett on  August 28th to an event chaired by Kevin Lemmer and Allen Levinson hosted in Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Congressman Garrett supports the right of Israel to exist as a sovereign, democratic nation and defend itself against attacks from neighboring territories.  While Congressman Garrett supports efforts to have peace between Israel and the Palestinians, he does not believe Israel should jeopardize its security by creating borders that could potentially leave it vulnerable to attack by neighbors.

The Congressman supports strong ties with Israel, and is a strong supporter of ensuring that Israel has the full support of the United States. In the 113th Congress, Congressman Garrett introduced the Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act of 2013. This important legislation would require that the United States Embassy in Israel move from its current location in Tel Aviv to Israel’s legal capital, Jerusalem. Contact Avi Schranz at avi@norpac.net for more information.

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NORPAC Englewood: Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) 9/11

NORPAC welcomes back Senator Tim Scott to a NORPAC event in NYC on September 11th hosted by Adam Sasouness.

Senator Scott has been a long-time ally of US-Israel relations from his brief tenure at the House of Representatives through his  quick rise to the Senate. During Israel’s independence day this year, Scott stated that “I will continue to fight for stronger sanctions on Iran and for the complete eradication of their nuclear program – our nation, our ally Israel, and frankly the entire world simply cannot risk anything less.”

Tim Scott recently co-signed a bipartisan letter to urge the Administration to quickly renew and strengthen the security Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Israel to provide it with the defensive resources it so desperately needs. Contact Avi Schranz at avi@norpac.net for more information.