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Over the past week, the Biden administration has worked intently to reduce regional tensions and reach a ceasefire agreement. With these efforts still in progress, I wanted to make sure you saw these important updates from the region as well as J Street’s recent piece written by Daniel Wittenberg, President of J Street U at the University of Arizona.
As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions.
All the best,
Lily
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Lily Adelstein
She/Her
Deputy Director of Government Affairs, J Street
Cell: 202-699-2701
J Street’s Congressional Resource Page
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This week on j street
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The Real Story of Israel Advocacy on Campus
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What we’re reading
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Blinken ends latest Mideast visit without a cease-fire, warning ‘time is of the essence’
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| U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended his ninth visit to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began without securing any major breakthrough for a cease-fire deal, warning on Tuesday that “time is of the essence” even as Hamas and Israel signaled that challenges remain. After meetings in fellow mediating countries Egypt and Qatar, Blinken said that because Israel has accepted a proposal to bridge gaps with the militant group, the focus turns to doing everything possible to “get Hamas on board” and ensure both sides agree to key details on implementation. “Our message is simple. It’s clear and it’s urgent,” he told reporters before leaving Qatar. “We need to get a cease-fire and hostage agreement over the finish line, and we need to do it now. Time is of the essence.” There has been added urgency after the recent targeted killings of militant leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah in Iran and Lebanon, both attributed to Israel, and vows of retaliation that have sparked fears of a wider regional war. |
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Harris says Israel ‘has right to defend itself,’ Palestinians need ‘dignity, security’
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| After much speculation, Vice President Harris, now the Democratic nominee for president, came out with the strongest remarks so far on where she stands on the Israel-Hamas war and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. “Let me be clear, I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself,” she said tonight. She said that Israelis should “never again” go through the horror and “unspeakable” attacks of Oct. 7. “At the same time what has happened in Gaza in the past 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking,” she said. |
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Backing Shin Bet chief, Defense Minister Gallant says Far-Right Minister Ben Gvir is endangering Israel’s security
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| “In the face of Minister Ben Gvir’s irresponsible actions that endanger Israel’s national security and create internal division in the nation, the head of the Shin Bet and his people are carrying out their duties and warning of the grave consequences of these acts,” Gallant wrote on X. In Bar’s letter, sent to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Gallant, and several other government ministers, the Shin Bet chief warned that radical settlers did not fear consequences for their actions, emboldening them to “terror” against Palestinians. Extremists have been encouraged by light-handed treatment of crimes and “a sense of secret backing” from police, Bar wrote. The Israel Police, under the far-right Ben Gvir, has repeatedly been accused of turning a blind eye to violence and intimidation by settler extremists. |
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Analysis | Netanyahu’s ceasefire doublespeak: Dovish with U.S., hawkish with negotiators
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| Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Secretary of State Tony Blinken on Monday that he’s committed to getting a Gaza hostage and ceasefire agreement, but Israeli officials say he has refused to give his own negotiators enough space to make a deal… Netanyahu’s negotiating team briefed him on Sunday that if he gave them more wiggle room, a deal might be possible. Netanyahu refused to budge and reprimanded them for “caving,” two senior Israeli officials tell Axios. The negotiators — Mossad director David Barnea, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and Gen. Nitzan Alon — told Netanyahu in Sunday’s briefing that they had been negotiating for months and a deal based on his current positions is not possible. But Netanyahu continues to argue that if Israel stands firm, Hamas will eventually cave. |
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Aid groups in Gaza aim to avert a polio outbreak with a surge of vaccinations
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| The threat of polio is rising fast in the Gaza Strip, prompting aid groups to call for an urgent pause in the war so they can ramp up vaccinations and head off a full-blown outbreak. One case has been confirmed, others are suspected and the virus was detected in wastewater in six different locations in July. Polio was eradicated in Gaza 25 years ago, but vaccinations plunged after the war began 10 months ago and the territory has become a breeding ground for the virus, aid groups say. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are crowded into tent camps lacking clean water or proper disposal of sewage and garbage. To avert a widespread outbreak, aid groups are preparing to vaccinate more than 600,000 children in the coming weeks. They say the ambitious vaccination plans are impossible, though, without a pause in the fighting between Israel and Hamas. A possible cease-fire deal couldn’t come soon enough. |
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‘They could have been saved’: Relatives of returned dead hostages voice deep frustration
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| The Hostages Families and Missing Forum on Tuesday welcomed the extraction of the bodies of Avraham Munder, Alex Dancyg, Chaim Peri, Yagev Buchshtab, Yoram Metzger, and Nadav Popplewell, all kidnapped alive by Hamas on October 7. But it also urged the government to “do everything in its power” to finalize a long-delayed agreement to secure the release of the remaining 109 hostages held in Gaza, saying that a negotiated deal was the only way to get them home. “The recovery of the bodies of Abraham, Alex, Chaim, Yagev, Yoram, and Nadav crucially provides their families with necessary closure and grants eternal rest to the murdered,” the Hostages Forum said in a statement. “Israel has a moral and ethical obligation to return all the murdered for dignified burial and to bring all living hostages home for rehabilitation. The immediate return of the remaining 109 hostages can only be achieved through a negotiated deal. The Israeli government, with the assistance of mediators, must do everything in its power to finalize the deal currently on the table.” |
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They Came to Kill’: After Israeli Settler Attack on Palestinian Village, Locals Fear There’s No One to Save Them
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| The villagers say they have fairly good relations with the residents of the nearby settlements. “This is the first time that something like this has happened to us. There were confrontations in the past, but they ended without violence,” Ibrahim Sadah said. “We don’t want problems or violence, but I’m telling you that if this happens again and continues, it will drive the young men to violence. Both we and they will be the losers. No one will benefit from violence except the people who planned it.” Jitawi also fears that more violence will lead the village to form its own armed security squad, like an Israeli kibbutz. “How much violence can we take?” he asked. “If this happens again and continues and nobody punishes the terrorists, it will result in an escalation that we in the village won’t be able to control, especially when we don’t have anybody to defend us against the settlers. It will result in the young men taking up arms and there will be a mess here.” |
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Iranian Military Official Hints Strike on Israel May Be Delayed
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| General Naeini’s comments suggested that the regional war widely feared should Iran strike Israel again might be averted, at least for the moment. Since the late July assassination of the Hamas leader on Iranian soil — for which Israel has not acknowledged responsibility — international leaders have been alarmed as Iranian officials pledged to avenge his death. Complicating matters, Iranian-backed Hezbollah forces in Lebanon were also vowing to attack Israel, in their case over the killing in Beirut of one their top commanders shortly before the Tehran assassination… With Israel threatening to strike back forcefully in both Iran and Lebanon, diplomats and world leaders warned that what has been contained, tit-for-tat strikes could spiral out of control and engulf the region in a wider war. The United States dispatched naval warships and a submarine to the region to help defend Israel, its close ally, as it did in April. And Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has doubled down on the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip in the hope that it would lower regional tensions. |
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