Dear Jerusalem: Two-Way Street for Yom Yerushalayim
On the day when we’re supposed to be celebrating the reunification of Jerusalem, I feel especially alienated from the city in which I live and work.
J Street organizes pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans to promote US policies that embody our deeply held Jewish and democratic values and that help secure the State of Israel as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people. We believe that only a negotiated resolution agreed to by Israelis and Palestinians can meet the legitimate needs and national aspirations of both peoples.
Working in the American political system, in the Jewish community and with others with whom we share core values, we advocate for diplomacy-first American leadership and policies that advance justice, equality, peace, and democracy in Israel, in the wider region and in the United States as well.
Living Our Values, Defending Democracy
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Leaders from Israeli security, military, and intelligence communities agree that Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal was a failure.
Our Israel is a J Street initiative to spotlight amazing Israeli organizations and individuals who share our values and who struggle, as we do in the United States, to build and preserve a liberal, democratic society underpinned by the principles of equality, freedom, justice and peace.
Learn about this important legislation and call your representative to ask them to sign on.
Call on the US government to carry out a fundamental reset of American foreign policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and adopt a clear strategy to end the cycle of violence, injustice and retaliation.
Call on the State Department to press Israeli authorities to do much more to confront violent settler attacks and to hold perpetrators of violence accountable,
On the day when we’re supposed to be celebrating the reunification of Jerusalem, I feel especially alienated from the city in which I live and work.
“If you want to talk about coexistence and look into the future, it's easier to do that when you're looking at common goals. People on both sides of the border are interested in establishing secure futures for themselves,” explains Anna Gol, PIP Executive Director. “So how do you do that? You do that through partnership. You do that through building together.”
As a citizen of Israel, I remember standing silently in my Jerusalem café as the sirens went off on Yom HaZikaron – Israel’s Day of Remembrance, honoring the memory of those who have fallen while on active duty as well as the civilian victims of terrorism. 24 hours later I was in my seat on Mount Herzl, celebrating Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel Independence Day. Weeping had given way to celebration.
I invite you to listen to a conversation between two individuals in the Jewish Community Centre in Kyiv. We hear a grandmother, whose family left her behind in Kyiv, and an unrelated teenager learning from the older woman:
Biden Envoy Makes the Case for Iran Nuclear Deal as Prospects Fade, The Washington Post
Saying he was “not particularly optimistic, to put it mildly,” of success in the year-long negotiations over reviving the nuclear deal with Iran, the Biden administration’s envoy to the talks insisted Wednesday that ongoing diplomacy remains the best option for U.S. national security. The hearing was the first extended public presentation by the administration since the stalemated talks were suspended in March. While several Democrats urged the administration to continue negotiations, several others joined most Republicans in questioning the value of continuing the talks.
Israel Tells U.S. It Killed Iranian Officer, Official Says, The New York Times
Col. Sayad Khodayee, 50, was fatally shot outside his home on a quiet residential street in Tehran on Sunday when two gunmen on motorcycles approached his car and fired five bullets into it, according to state media. A spokeswoman for the Israeli prime minister declined to comment on the killing. But according to an intelligence official briefed on the communications, Israel has informed American officials that it was behind the killing.