On Sunday, April 27, UJA-Westchester and the Westchester Jewish Council hosted their annual Government Relations Legislative Breakfast at the JCC in Harrison. Speakers included New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Reps. Mike Lawler and George Latimer, Westchester’s new County Executive Ken Jenkins, and New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. Many Westchester elected officials and Jewish community leaders participated.
UJA’s Karen Kasner presented a special tribute to longtime Westchester Congresswoman Nita Lowey, z”l, whom she described as “someone who not only made history in so many ways but made a difference to so many.” Noting Lowey’s three decades in Congress, Kasner said: “Nita broke barriers, shattered glass ceilings, and made lasting changes that continue to impact American and foreign lives today. In 1988, Nita was elected to Congress. She was a champion of women’s rights, reproductive freedom, global mental health, funding biomedical research and early childhood. Nita was the first woman to lead the powerful House Appropriations Committee. She was a consensus builder who always reached across the aisle while never compromising her values, guided by her Jewish values, upbringing and community.
“Nita always listened,” Kasner concluded. “She had a way of making you feel like you mattered and your voice counted. But she also reminded us that politics is not about power. It’s about service, joy, and just doing the right thing. Today we are here not just to honor her career; we honor her spirit, her courage, her determination, her selflessness and her ability to stay grounded.”
Hochul stated: “I speak with Holocaust survivors who tell me how fearful they are today in 2025 because they’re starting to see the same hatred and intolerance seep into our country that they saw fomenting back in the early days before the Holocaust. We’re entering an era which I think is going to profoundly define us for generations to come. Are we standing up now in the face of antisemitism, or are we not? I would say we must. There should be no question of who we’re standing with when our values are being challenged. This is not a hard fight for me to know whose side I’m on.”
Hochul listed current battles in the state legislature related to evidence and discovery regarding victims of hate crimes. She also cited the issue of protesters wearing masks. “Our mask law in New York was to stop members of the KKK from threatening people. … On college campuses, someone’s masked, breaking a window or vandalizing rooms because they don’t want someone who might want to hire them someday to know who they are. This has to stop, my friends.”
Lawler stated: “Regardless of party, having Republican and Democrat unified representation in Westchester in support of Israel and in support of the Jewish community is critical. I am proud that two of my bills became law, going after the illicit $200 billion oil trade between China and Iran that funded Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and other terror networks in the Middle East and for the attack on October 7. Killing that funding source is paramount. Enforcing sanctions, ending the illicit oil trade funding ballistic missile programs and Iran’s nuclear ambitions is critical.” Just two weeks ago, he noted, Congress passed the enhanced Iran Sanctions Act to further cripple that illicit oil trade.
Lawler said it is necessary for Arab majority states to normalize relations with Israel, starting with Saudi Arabia. “That’s why next month, I’m going to be leading a delegation to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan and Israel, to focus on strengthening the Abraham Accords and bringing about normalization with Arab majority states. You cannot have peace in the Middle East if Arab states do not recognize Israel’s right to exist, period.”
On Gaza, Lawler stated, “it is paramount that the remaining hostages be released. There is no way for there to be a two-state solution as long as these folks remain in power, if Hamas or the Palestinian Authority continue to engage in pay-to-slay practices, paying Palestinians to kill Jews. It is incumbent upon Arab states to work together to find a solution.”
Latimer highlighted three issues that “link all of us together.” The first issue, he said, “is the way we respond to antisemitism, and that is a commitment that involves every elected official. This is about people who hate Jews … and that hatred has to be addressed straightforwardly, being tough legislatively and administratively, but also using the tools of education and common connection.”
Latimer’s second issue is the geopolitical situation of Israel. “We support that the state of Israel very simply has a right to exist on defensible borders. It has faced hatred since its existence in 1948. … I hear voices justify October 7 based on other things that happened before. Peace will come with recognition and the laying aside of weaponry from both sides. The pivotal action right now is to release the hostages.”
The third point Latimer raised was “‘tikun olam,’ our duty to our fellow residents and citizens including the environment, education, health care and public health care. Let’s not think that those aren’t Jewish priorities, too.”
