The Republican Jewish Coalition on Tuesday asked the US Senate to reject President Biden’s nomination of NJ lawyer Adeel Mangi, 46, for the Third Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.
On January 18, Pakistan-born Mangi’s nomination was narrowly approved, over the objections of watchdog StopAntisemitism that warned of his affiliation with the Rutgers Center for Security, Race, and Rights (CSRR) known for hosting convicted terrorists in a discussion panel, and, as one senator put it, being “basically a mouthpiece for Hamas.”
“Mangi’s radical affiliations should have disqualified him from being nominated for a lifetime judicial appointment,” the RJC wrote.
During the December Senate committee hearing, Mangi faced tough questions from Senators Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and John Kennedy, but insisted that he became aware of the panel only during the hearing, emphasizing that his position on the group’s advisory board did not entail any involvement in its programming.
The RJC contended that “Desperate to avoid addressing the actual concerns Republican Senators and Jewish organizations have raised, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin and other Mangi defenders have baselessly alleged that those opposed to the nomination are motivated by religious bigotry. But deflection tactics won’t protect Senate Democrats from accountability for this vote.”
The Jewish advocacy group said that even before October 7, 2023, the Rutgers Center had “attracted attention for its anti-American and antisemitic events. Most recently, the organization blamed Israel’s ‘settler colonialism’ for provoking Hamas terrorists’ October 7 atrocities. In 2021, the ‘Center’ was called out by local Jewish activists and a Democratic Congressman for hosting a 9/11 anniversary event at which a speaker, who had been convicted of aiding a Palestinian terrorist organization, blamed America and Israel for the 2001 terrorist attacks.”
“Mangi implausibly claims not to have heard about this controversy, which occurred while he was affiliated with the Center, and he refused to condemn the institution for sponsoring the event when the matter was discussed during his nomination hearing,” according to the RJC.
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) objected vehemently to the RJC’s view, stating:
In a recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, a nominee for U.S. Circuit Court Judge, Adeel Mangi, was questioned aggressively on thin pretext about his views on Israel, terrorism, and antisemitism, turning these serious issues into a tool of partisan attack. Mangi—who would be the first American Muslim to serve in this role—affirmed his belief in Israel’s right to exist, his abhorrence of terrorism and any justifications for it, and outright rejection of antisemitism.
American Jewish Committee (AJC) has joined several U.S. Supreme Court briefs led by Mangi and find him to be an able jurist, a person of integrity, champion of pluralism, and adversary of discrimination against any group. Ultimately, the Senate must determine Mangi’s fitness for the job, and we expect that Senators will disregard the untoward implications underlying that unnecessary and unhelpful line of questioning. Elected officials should take a leadership role in calming the fears of and against American religious minorities, such as Jews and Muslims, not stoke them.
