On Sunday, Drs. Ben & Esther Chouake of Englewood hosted a brunch event for U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) at their home. The event was chaired by Moshael Straus, CEO of Ascend Capital Group and chairman of Yeshiva University. Menendez has been a public servant for three decades and was formerly chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Bob Menendez was the second Democrat in the Senate to vote against the Iran Deal (JCPOA) in 2015, which he viewed as a significant mistake by the Obama administration that would clear Iran’s path for nuclear weapons development. During the event, he expressed cautious optimism on working with President Trump to bolster US-Israel relations, touting his support of some of the new administration’s appointees, including recently David Friedman.

Menendez addressed several questions from the more than 30-person crowd in attendance. On the topic of Iran, he mentioned his work with Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) on a bipartisan bill to levy sanctions on Tehran for its testing of ballistic missiles. He also mentioned that the Senate is constructing legislation to counter any efforts by the United Nations to create a blacklist of Israeli companies. These bills are expected to be introduced this week.

Robert Menendez will be running for re-election in 2018.