# Republican Jewish Coalition The **Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC)**, founded May 24, 1985 as the National Jewish Coalition, is the institutional face of Jewish Republicanism: a 501(c)(4) with a political action committee, a policy arm, some 47 chapters, and — the reason it matters — an annual leadership meeting in Las Vegas that functions as the Republican Party's most important closed-door donor forum on Israel. [[Sheldon Adelson]] funded it for the last decade of his life and used it in 2012 to bankroll a swing-state campaign for Jewish votes; [[Miriam Adelson]] has continued the role. Its chairman is former senator [[Norm Coleman]]; its longtime executive director is Matt Brooks. Revenue in 2024 was about $13.4 million. ## What it does The RJC speaks for a minority of a minority — American Jews vote roughly seven-to-three Democratic, and the RJC's base is the Orthodox-leaning slice that votes the other way on Israel policy, day-school funding and social conservatism (see [[Modern Orthodox Judaism]]). Its function is less to move Jewish voters than to certify Republican politicians as sound on Israel before the donors who care most, and to police the party's antisemitism problem from inside. The second job has become harder: the RJC condemned the Tucker Carlson–Nick Fuentes episode of late 2025, and [[JD Vance]]'s appearance at the August 31, 2026 Las Vegas meeting was reported under headlines about "lingering tension over Israel and antisemitism" — the same day he had called a Muslim Democratic Senate nominee "evil" at a Michigan rally. The RJC is one of the four organizations the vault means by the "Israel lobby" — with [[AIPAC]], [[Christians United for Israel]] and Democratic Majority for Israel — and the only one that is a party organ. Its relationship to [[Christian Zionism]] is the interesting one: the evangelical movement supplies the votes and the RJC's donors supply the money for a policy most American Jews oppose, and the coalition works because neither side needs the other's reasons. ## See Also - [[Sheldon Adelson]] · [[Miriam Adelson]] · [[Adelson Family]] · [[Norm Coleman]] - [[AIPAC]] · [[Christians United for Israel]] · [[Christian Zionism]] · [[Israel]] · [[Abraham Accords]] - [[Republican Party]] · [[Modern Orthodox Judaism]] · [[Religions and Right-Wing Politics]] · [[JD Vance]]