WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), the third female Jewish Senator in U.S. history, as well as the first former synagogue president to serve in the United States Senate, wrapped up a successful seven-day official visit to Israel. The Senator engaged in high-level policy briefings and meetings with renowned experts on Israel’s security, US-Israel cybersecurity cooperation, clean energy, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Holocaust education, international law, and Israel’s vibrant democracy, diverse society, and regional challenges.
“Israel is a beacon of democracy in the Middle East, a key strategic ally, and a major economic partner. My visit only reaffirms how committed I am to strengthening our alliance and special relationship with Israel,” said Senator Rosen. “In the face of increasing threats in the region from Iran and its proxies, the ongoing conflict in Syria, and rising global anti-Semitism, the bonds between the United States and Israel are more important now than they have ever been. We must continue our efforts to strengthen our security alliance and our longstanding economic partnership, which have been tremendously beneficial to both nations.”
BACKGROUND: Rosen traveled to Israel as part of AJC’s Project Interchange, a non-profit, non-partisan educational institute of AJC (American Jewish Committee). Senator Rosen traveled to the Israel-Lebanon border for an in-depth, on-site briefing on the threats posed by Hezbollah, Iran’s terrorist proxy, just days after Hezbollah launched an attack on IDF troops inside Israel’s northern border. Later in the week, Rosen also visited an Iron Dome Battery and IDF soldiers deployed in the field. In a moving ceremony, Rosen also laid a memorial wreath at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Memorial, after touring the museum and meeting with the director of its education initiatives.
Rosen serves as a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC). Earlier this year, she introduced the US-Israel Cybersecurity Center of Excellence Act, S. 2309, bipartisan legislation that would require the State Department to investigate the potential benefits of establishing a joint US-Israel cybersecurity center. This legislation is co-led by Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD).
Rosen has a long history of supporting the US-Israel relationship. Earlier this year, Rosen voted in favor of S.1, the Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act of 2019. This bipartisan bill, which passed the Senate, would provide $38 billion in security assistance to Israel and increase protections for state and local anti-BDS laws, like the one passed by the Nevada Legislature in 2017. Rosen is also a co-sponsor of S. 143, a bipartisan resolution recognizing the contributions of Israel-Americans to the United States. Last Congress, Rosen introduced the bipartisan Defend Israel Act to authorize over $700 million in missile defense funding to Israel. She also co-sponsored numerous bills to hold Iran and its proxy Hezbollah accountable, including the bipartisan Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Amendments Act of 2017, legislation to sanction foreign companies and individuals that aid Hezbollah’s fundraising or recruitment activities. This legislation passed the House unanimously, and its identical Senate companion bill was later signed into law.
In addition to her support for Israel, Senator Rosen has been an outspoken advocate of combating anti-Semitism in the United States, the Middle East, Europe, and around the world.
Rosen introduced the Never Again Education Act, bipartisan legislation that would establish a dedicated federal fund to provide teachers with resources and training necessary to teach our students the important lessons of the Holocaust.
The Senator is also a cosponsor of the bipartisan Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2018, which adopts a broad definition of anti-Semitism for the purposes of enforcing federal antidiscrimination laws in education. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Education to consider this new definition of “anti-Semitism” as part of its assessment of whether an action based on an individual’s Jewish ancestry was motivated by anti-Semitic intent, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in education. Among other things, the definition includes making stereotypical allegations about the power of Jews as a collective, denying the Holocaust, and accusing Jewish citizens of a country of being more loyal to Israel to than to the interests of their own nation.
Earlier this year, Senator Rosen helped introduce bipartisan legislation to upgrade the State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism to the rank of an ambassador and require its Presidential appointment and Senate confirmation.
Rosen also co-sponsored a bipartisan resolution from Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) condemning anti-Semitism and committing the Senate to combating it. This resolution passed the Senate by Unanimous Consent.
American Jewish Committee (AJC) is the leading global Jewish advocacy organization in the United States. The organization maintains headquarters in New York, 22 Regional Offices across the U.S., 12 international posts in Asia, Europe, Israel, and Latin America, and 37 partnership agreements with Jewish communities around the globe. AJC was the first American Jewish organization to establish a full-time office in Israel nearly 60 years ago.
###
