Ira Forman, who led President Obama’s reelection campaign in the Jewish community, was appointed as the State Department’s envoy to combat anti-Semitism. The State Department announced the appointment on Monday—the same day it released its 2012 report on religious freedom that recorded a “continued global increase in anti-Semitism.” Secretary of State John Kerry tapped Forman to replace Hannah Rosenthal, who left last year to direct the Milwaukee Jewish federation. Kerry’s …More

Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) made headlines yesterday in announcing he would not seek reelection at the end of his current term. The veteran politician has held his seat since 1979, and served in several key Congress committees, including a current seat as chairman on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He also leads the Senate’s Armed Services Committee and has been influential in setting record levels of defense assistance for Israel. The Jewish senator said yesterday he would use his last …More

All of the Jewish women representing the Democratic party in the US Senate and Congress have chosen to become Honorary Co-Chairs of the National Jewish Democratic Council’s (NJDC) new Women’s Leadership Network (WLN). Former US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), who was shot in Tucson, Ariz., in 2011 and later left her post to recover from her injury, has also signed on for the role. The initiative is “an opportunity for us to stand up as women, as Jews, and as Democrats for the priorities we …More

The Jewiest dog at Westminster. [Forward] The Harlem Shake has made it to Yeshiva University. [Tablet] Ron Prosor urges the EU to add Hezbollah to its terror list. [Times of Israel] Israeli equestrians are already preparing for the Rio Olympics. [Times of Israel] Helena Bonham Carter is set to play Elizabeth Taylor in a BBC biopic. [JC] A look at how Pope Benedict XVI has been dogged by his Hitler Youth past. [ABC] Check out the Nazi parody video from 1942 that sent Joseph Goebbels into a rage. [Slate] …More

Daniel Inouye, the longtime Hawaii senator described by pro-Israel groups as one of Israel's best friends in the Senate, has died. Inouye, 88, and a decorated World War II hero, died Monday of respiratory complications at Walter Reid National Military Medical Center, the Washington Post reported. "Senator Inouye deeply understood the importance of the US-Israel relationship, and as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, worked tirelessly and effectively to ensure that America’s ally, Israel, had the …More

The head of the National Jewish Democratic Council is stepping down, just weeks after concluding major campaigning for President Barack Obama. "With the confidence of knowing that I’ve accomplished key goals here at NJDC that are central to our mission, I’m very much looking forward to new professional challenges and directions," said President David Harris yesterday. Harris, 43, took on the post in 2009 and spent three years focusing on shaping the public’s view of Obama’s stance on …More

“What do you get when you mix Santa and a Jew?” It may sound like the opening line of a joke, but for these men it’s a reality. [Forward] David Harris is leaving his job as the president of the National Jewish Democratic Council. [Times of Israel] Since Kevin Youkilis has signed with the New York Yankees, his Jewish roots may be even more present. [NYTimes] Based on data released by the government, England’s Jewish population has had a 1.3 percent increase in size over the last decade. …More

When the new Congress convenes in January, it will be missing several longtime pillars of support for Israel on Capitol Hill. Gone from the House of Representatives will be veteran Jewish Reps. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.), the ranking member on the committee’s Middle East and South Asia Subcommittee; and Steve Rothman (D-N.J.), a point person on funding Israel’s missile defense efforts. Absent from the Senate will be Sen. …More

Rabbi Eric Yoffie worries that American progressive Jews won't support Israel's operation in Gaza. [Haaretz] StandWithUs, the Conference of President of Major American Jewish Organizations, JFNA, and the National Jewish Democratic Council expressed solidarity with Israel as the escalationf with Gaza continues. [Algemeiner] A Jewish journalist travels to Ukraine, where anti-Semitic party Svoboda has just won 10 percent of the popular vote, but experiences hope at Jewish conference in Kiev. [Jerusalem Post] A 41 …More

Jewish groups are already analyzing data from last night’s election, as a reported 69 to 70 percent of Jewish voters cast their ballot for President Obama. That figure is based on exit polls and shows a decrease from 2008’s exit poll, when Obama took 78 percent of the Jewish vote. The Republican Jewish Coalition pointed to what it called an “erosion” in the traditionally Democrat-controlled Jewish demographic. “The trend in the Jewish community is unmistakable. In five of the last …More

As college students prepare to hit the polls on November 6 - many for the first time - they will be considering a broad array of policy issues and party platforms. What drives young people to vote? How do they consider various issues? Does Israel play a role in the choices they make on election day? Israel Campus Beat interviewed pro-Israel students on campuses across the country to gauge the impact their support for Israel has on how they are preparing for Election Day. Excerpts from those interviews can be seen …More

Democrats may have put Jerusalem back into their party platform, but the Republican Jewish Coalition is still hammering away at its original omission, the convention hall tumult over its reinsertion and the absence of some other pro-Israel passages that had been in the 2008 platform. On Friday the RJC issued a new print ad highlighting these points. Meanwhile, Democratic elected officials were annoyed at what they saw as a political gift that their party clumsily handed to Republicans looking to attack the …More