Over at the MSNBC website, Michael Isikoff is flagging a YouTube video of a 2010 speech by Sheldon Adelson in which the casino mogul and Newt Gingrich-bankroller talks about his dream of serving in the Israeli military. Isikoff suggests such talk will prove embarrassing for Gingrich, who after all is running to be commander in chief of the U.S. Read More »

Last night, after Mitt Romney’s decisive win in the Nevada caucuses, a reporter at asked Newt Gingrich about reports that his white knight, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, had reached out to Romney as well. Read More »

A new draft bill approved by voice vote by the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday will expand on Iran sanctions already in place through previous legislation. The key for the Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Human Rights Act of 2012 will be to close loopholes that Iran is using to skirt existing sanctions laws. Read More »

Nevada’s Clark County held a special Republican caucus today at 7 pm tonight to accommodate a substantial observant Jewish population. It’s dubbed the Adelson caucus because it is being held at a local Jewish school, Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Educational Campus. The actual Adelsons have disclaimed any association with the caucus. Read More »

OBAMA’S MULTIFAITH PITCH: In his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, President Obama cites Jesus, Judaism and Islam in making the case that the rich should pay more in taxes. Read More »

A bill making its way through Virginia’s state legislature would place restrictions on the consideration of foreign laws – and likely religious laws, as well — in the state’s courts. And it is drawing opposition from the Jewish community. Stopping HB 825 was the top priority item for Jewish advocates who were in Richmond, Va. Read More »

Zach Silberman has a nice story for The Washington Jewish Week on the new kosher food options in the Dirksen Senate Office Building cafeteria. He quotes a couple Jewish lawmakers who are kvelling, including Sen. Joseph Lieberman. Read More »

Let’s answer a question with a question: What does the Florida GOP primary tell us about how the state’s Jews will vote in the general election? Who knows? Some folks are highlighting exit polling from the Florida GOP primary that found only 1 Read More »

Freshman Republican Rep. Allen West, and, was one of the top 2012 election targets of Democrats, who are hoping to take back his South Florida district and take out an outspoken Tea Party favorite. But it turns out West is a moving target. Read More »

The former lead commander for U.S. Central Command underscored the importance of Israel’s perception of Iran as an existential threat during a U.S. Senate hearing on Tuesday. Read More »

NOT ADELSONS’ CAUCUS?: A spokesman for Sheldon and Miriam Adelson — Newt Gingrich’s spendthrift supporters — denies that the couple is responsible for a special Nevada Republican caucus that is designed to accommodate those who observe Saturday as the Sabbath. Read More »

In an apparent effort to appeal to Florida Jews (exactly how many of whom vote in Republican primaries, who knows?), Newt Gingrich’s campaign is using robocalls to hit rival Mitt Romney over his stance on kosher food when he was governor of Massachusetts. Some , however, don’t think it’s a very kosher line of attack. Read More »

Haaretz is reporting that Dennis Ross is still advising the White House, in an unofficial capacity. Barak Ravid, the paper’s diplomatic reporter, also says : “Apparently, a short while after Ross left his position in the Obama administration, the Read More »

As Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney cut a funding for a program that provided kosher meals for the Jewish elderly, as part of overal cuts aimed at rolling back the state’s deficit. The legislature restored the program. I’m not sure how this became an issue in the 2012 election, but it did. In Florida. Read More »

CNN Tweeted it was broadcasting a live event of Newt Gingrich at a Republican Jewish Coalition event in Delray Beach this afternoon, but when I clicked — nothing. Read More »

An email from the Zionist Organization of America landed in my inbox this morning. This is not unusual in of itself, and not just because the ZOA will at times have comments on our stories. Its officials also (entirely reasonably) periodically write Jewish media outlets letters about the issues of the day. Read More »

A report in the New York Post is highlighting a 2003 veto that Mitt Romney cast while he was governor of Massachusetts for denying $600,000 in additional funds for poor Jewish nursing-home residents to receive kosher meals. Read More »

In tonight’s Florida debate, Abraham Hassan, a Palestinian American, asked the GOP candidates how they would bring about peace in the Middle East — and added, “As a Palestinian American Republican, I’m here to tell you, we do exist.” The reference was to Newt Gingrich’s claim last month that the Palestinians are an “invented people. Read More »

J Street has posted a video arguing against a strike against Iran. Notably, it does not feature warnings from Iran experts on the American left. Instead, many of its quotes are from Israelis, or from American centrists, and from the defense secretary, Leon Panetta. Read More »



CANTOR CARES: House Majority Eric Cantor says he cares about Warren Buffet’s secretary, who the billionaire famously noted pays taxes at a higher rate than he does.
 TAX BEN STEIN’S MONEY: Former Nixon speechwriter and conservative funny guy Ben Stein agrees with President Obama that the rich should pay a higher tax rate. Read More »