I’m writing to share important updates from the region as well as J Street’s statements and resources from this past week. As a reminder, you can always find our most recent statements here.

I invite you to reach out to your J Street Public Affairs staff with any questions.

All the best,
Lily

—
Lily Adelstein
She/Her
Deputy Director of Government Affairs, J Street
Cell: 202-699-2701

This week on j street

Statement

J Street Responds to the Department of Justice’s Indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center

Expert Analysis

Top Israeli Security Experts Reject Netanyahu’s Forever War Doctrine

Word on the Street: Jeremy Ben-Ami

Democrats Aren’t Turning on Israel. They’re Rejecting the Occupation.

Expert Analysis

Palestinian Municipal Elections

Word on the Street: LIVE

Rapid-Fire with Sen. Chris Murphy

Watch now →

What we’re reading

Israel-Lebanon ceasefire extended by three weeks, Trump says

The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by another three weeks, President Trump said after hosting the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors in the Oval Office on Thursday. Why it matters: The U.S. wants to extend the Lebanon ceasefire for two reasons: to advance direct Israel-Lebanon peace talks and to prevent renewed fighting from undermining the effort to reach a deal with Iran.

Katz says Israel waiting for ‘green light’ to renew war against Iran

Defense Minister Israel Katz says Israel is “awaiting a green light from the United States, first and foremost to complete the elimination of the Khamenei dynasty, the initiator of the extermination plan against Israel, and the successors of the successors of the leadership of the Iranian terror regime, and in addition to return Iran to the age of darkness and stone by blowing up central energy and electricity facilities and crushing national economic infrastructure.”

Iran deploys more mines in the Strait of Hormuz, sources say

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy laid more mines in the Strait of Hormuz this week, according to a U.S. official and a source with knowledge of the issue. Why it matters: The military standoff in the world’s most important oil chokepoint is escalating, with Iran laying mines and attacking commercial ships on one side and the U.S. tightening its naval blockade on the other. After being briefed on the new developments, President Trump ordered the U.S. Navy on Truth Social on Thursday to “shoot and kill” any Iranian boats laying mines with “no hesitation.”

Two Palestinians Killed in Israeli Shooting Near West Bank School

Israeli soldiers and settlers fired on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, killing two, including a child, Palestinian witnesses and local authorities said. The shooting was in the village of Al Mughayir, where tensions over Israeli settlement expansion and violence have surged of late… The Palestinian authorities initially said the gunmen were Israeli settlers who had attacked a boys’ school. The school’s principal and the mayor of the village later said that both settlers and Israeli soldiers had opened fire. The Israeli military said in a statement that it had dispatched soldiers to Al Mughayir on Tuesday following a report of rocks being thrown at an Israeli vehicle carrying several people, including a reserve soldier. The military said that the reservist “exited the vehicle and opened fire at suspects in the area.”

Gaza’s yellow line creeps forward as Israeli forces expand zone of control

Israeli forces have been moving an agreed truce line in Gaza westwards over the six months since the ceasefire, expanding their zone of control and making the state of limbo ever more dangerous for Palestinians. The “yellow line” agreed in the US-brokered ceasefire in October was supposed to be temporary pending further Israeli withdrawals, but the partially observed truce has stalled after its first phase amid disagreements over the disarming of Hamas, and continued Israeli bombardment of Gaza. Since then, the yellow line has crept forward in several places, expanding the army-controlled area well beyond the 53% of Gaza territory implied in the original ceasefire maps.

Clearing Strait of Hormuz of mines could take 6 months, Pentagon tells Congress

It could take six months to fully clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines deployed by the Iranian military, and any such operation is unlikely to be carried out until the U.S. war with Iran ends, the Pentagon has informed Congress — an assessment that means the conflict’s economic impact could extend late into this year or beyond. A senior Defense Department official shared the estimate during a classified briefing Tuesday for members of the House Armed Services Committee, said three officials familiar with the discussion. The timeline — met with frustration by Democrats and Republicans alike, two of these people said — is the latest sign that gasoline and oil prices could remain elevated long after any peace deal is reached.

How Israel Is Taking Control of Southern Lebanon

Few parts of southern Lebanon remain untouched by the war. Entire villages have emptied after Israel issued sweeping evacuation warnings for nearly all of the south. Israeli airstrikes have destroyed homes, severed bridges and razed parts of towns. Israeli ground forces have advanced deeper into southern Lebanon, clashing with Hezbollah militants in the rugged, hilly terrain… This week, Israeli officials offered their most explicit plan to date to occupy a swath of southern Lebanon from the border up to the Litani River after the ground invasion ends. That would amount to about 10 percent of the entire country. Israeli officials have said they aim to establish a “security zone” to prevent the territory from being used to attack Israel.

A New Era and New Leadership: The Generals Who Are Running Iran

When Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled Iran as the supreme leader, he exerted absolute power over all decisions about war, peace and negotiations with the United States. His son and successor does not play the same role. Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son, is an elusive figure who has not been seen and whose voice has not been heard since he was appointed in March. Instead, a battle-hardened collective of commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and those aligned with them are the key decision makers on matters of security, war and diplomacy… The combination of concern for his safety, his injuries and the sheer challenge of reaching him has resulted in Mr. Khamenei’s delegating decision making to the generals, at least for now. Reformist factions, as well as ultra-hard-liners, are still involved in political discussions. But analysts say that Mr. Khamenei’s close ties to the generals, whom he grew up with when he volunteered to fight in the Iran-Iraq war as a teenager, have made them the dominant force.

Opinion | America Should Be Israel’s Partner, Not Its Patron

“The cooperation between Israel and the United States during the war with Iran marks the culmination of a long shift in the relationship between the two countries. For years, Washington effectively served as Israel’s patron, providing funding to purchase U.S. military equipment and a diplomatic umbrella (including veto protection in the UN Security Council) in exchange for general alignment with U.S. policy preferences and close cooperation on intelligence and military technology. Through the latest joint military action against a mutual enemy, the relationship has now entered a qualitatively different phase. Rather than acting alone or being excluded from a U.S.-led coalition, as it was during both Gulf wars, Israel has operated as a full partner, sharing targets and operational responsibilities with U.S. forces… Israel’s newfound status, however, has also revealed just how outdated the existing U.S.-Israeli framework for defense industrial cooperation has become.”