As we begin the 119th Congress and President Trump’s second term, I urge everyone to recognize the bipartisan work displayed between senior officials in the outgoing Biden Administration and the then-incoming Trump Administration to make a breakthrough in an agreement to secure the release of 33 of the remaining hostages brutally abducted from Israel during Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023. We cannot take for granted the unique power of senior officials from the Biden and Trump administrations working together.

The French Parliament passed a resolution on January 29, 2025, condemning Iran’s human rights abuses and urging the EU to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. (IRGC) and Basij forces as terrorist organizations. This move increases pressure on the EU to freeze IRGC assets and block their operations across Europe, weakening Iran’s global terror network. American Jewish Committee (AJC) and other advocates are now calling on the EU and additional nations to follow France’s lead in officially blacklisting the IRGC.

Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, spiritual leader of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York, explores the complexities of Jewish identity in a post-October 7th world in his new book, For Such a Time As This: On Being Jewish Today. In this conversation, he unpacks the tension between Israel’s need for self-defense and the suffering experienced by Gazans and Israelis and the challenge of balancing empathy with vigilance.

AJC Statement on Executive Order on Additional Measures to Combat Antisemitism