J Street’s friends at the Forum for Regional Thinking and The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute released a landmark report titled “The Present Day: Peacemaking Alternatives for Israeli Policy.” The report outlines an alternative path for Israel – one that it’s still not too late to pursue – designed to lock in lasting security gains, save innocent lives in Gaza, and transform the prospects for long-term peace.
On April 3, J Street’s Policy Center hosted a virtual briefing with the report’s authors Dr. Assaf David and Dr. Smadar Ben-Natan to help us unpack the findings and recommendations of the report.
“The official policy of consecutive Israeli right-wing governments was to treat Hamas as an asset and treat the Palestinian Authority as a liability,” Dr. Assaf David said. “We saw the results, the outcomes of this dead-end, on October 7.”
“The question is do we support a system of values and a system of government that would make Israel sustainable, durable and prosperous?” Dr. Smadar Ben-Natan said. “All of these values and policy prescriptions are now under a severe attack […] by the Trump government and by the Israeli government.” “We are in shock and rightly so. We need to regroup and organize and know that we are in the struggle of our lives.”
Watch the full discussion below:
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