August 25, 2023 | 8 Elul 5783
Candlelighting 7:45 p.m. | Havdalah 8:44 p.m. | Vol. 66, No. 34 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
AIPAC, J Street and Summer Lee wrangle over 2024 District 12 race
Jewish Heritage Night at PNC Park!
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Rep. Summer Lee Jason Kunzman, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s chief program officer and incoming CEO, throws the first pitch on Jewish Heritage Night at PNC Park on Aug. 9. Photo courtesy of the Pittsburgh Pirates
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.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA) said he saw firsthand the strength of the relationship between Israel and the United States during a seven-day trip to the Jewish state. Deluzio, who represents most of the northwestern suburbs of Pittsburgh, joined 23 other members of Congress earlier this month for what he called a “substantive” trek to Israel. The journey, he said, was centered in Jerusalem but included the breadth of the region and incorporated the Sea of Galilee and Golan Heights, among other stops. “We received briefings and had meetings across the political spectrum, Israeli and Palestinian alike,” he said, “really diving into the issues that are being debated around the heart of democracy in Israel and what its future looks like as a Jewish and democratic state, and, frankly, the road — however rocky — to lasting
By Toby Tabachnick | Editor
T
security and peace of two states, side by side.” The delegation, led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, opposition leader Yair Lapid and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. “We were taking pretty serious meetings at a high level to hear the perspective of, I think, every part of leadership in the region, as best we could,” Deluzio said. The trip gave the congressman a greater appreciation of the importance and strength of the relationship between Israel and the United States, he said, noting that it highlighted U.S. interests in the region, especially in terms of security. To that end, Deluzio said the delegation toured an Iron Dome battery site, “which
wo political advocacy organizations — each identifying as pro-Israel — are in the midst of a tussle over the 2024 congressional race for Pennsylvania’s 12th district, which includes Squirrel Hill. At the heart of the row between AIPAC and J Street is the reelection campaign of first-term Rep. Summer Lee, who last month was one of only nine House members voting against a resolution declaring Israel “is not a racist or apartheid state.” Lee, along with “Squad” members Cori Bush, Jamal Bowman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, also skipped Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s address to a joint session of Congress on July 19. In May, she was one of 17 co-sponsors of proposed legislation that would restrict aid to Israel and, in April, Lee voted against a resolution marking Israel’s 75th anniversary, heralding the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship and urging the expansion of the Abraham Accords. JStreetPAC, a political action committee connected to J Street, endorsed Lee in her bid for Congress in 2022, while the United Democracy Project — an AIPAC affiliate — campaigned against her.
Please see Deluzio, page 10
Please see Lee, page 10
US Rep. Chris Deluzio returns from trip to Israel By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of summerlee.house.gov/press
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