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I hope you are doing well.
As I write this, the US and our allies are working feverishly to reduce regional tensions by working to deter any attacks by Iran and its proxies and negotiating a ceasefire deal in Gaza. With these efforts and a number of troubling developments from the Israeli government as a backdrop, I wanted to make sure you saw these important updates from the region as well as J Street’s statements and resources from the past week.
All the best,
Hannah
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Hannah Morris
She/Her
Director of Government Affairs, J Street
Cell: 832-606-1817
J Street’s Congressional Resource Page |
This week on j street
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| WEBINAR |
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Emergency Briefing: The Risk of Regional Escalation
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What we’re reading
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Washington and Arab states scramble to avert an all-out Middle East war
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| The Biden administration is racing to avert an explosion of violence across the Middle East, a high-stakes moment that threatens to derail a long-awaited cease-fire deal in the Gaza Strip and underscores the limits of American influence over Israel, its closest ally in the region. President Biden and Vice President Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, huddled with their top advisers in the White House Situation Room on Monday to discuss an anticipated Iranian assault against Israel and an attack by an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia that injured U.S. troops, a strike to which Washington vowed to respond “in a manner and place of our choosing.” The United States has scrambled to position additional military assets, including a squadron of F-22 jets and naval destroyers, closer to Israel to help defend against what officials believe will be an imminent attack by Tehran in retaliation for last week’s killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital. |
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U.S., Qatar and Egypt invite Israel and Hamas for summit to finalize Gaza deal
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| President Biden, the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and the President of Egypt Abdel Fattah al-Sisi are calling on Israel and Hamas to take part in a final round of negotiations next week to finalize a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, the three leaders said in a joint statement on Thursday… U.S. officials said in recent days that a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal is the only way to calm regional tensions that reached a new height after Israel assassinated a top Hezbollah military commander in Beirut and Hamas’ political leader in Tehran last week. The Biden administration is trying [to] deter Iran and Hezbollah from attacking Israel as part of a retaliation to the assassinations, while also pushing for a diplomatic solution… The negotiations over the hostage and ceasefire deal stalled in recent weeks over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new conditions. The assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh deepened the crisis over the hostage and ceasefire talks. |
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Fear Stalks Israel’s Communities on the Front Lines With Lebanon
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| Born and raised in Snir, Mr. Shelef remembered sleeping in a bomb shelter for three years as a child, during Israel’s first war in Lebanon in the 1980s. “We want to make sure that the children coming back here will have a better childhood,” he said, adding that while his own family, living in a hotel a half-hour’s drive south, was not about to return, “We will never give up our home.” Some Israelis say they want to see military action that would permanently distance Hezbollah forces from the border. But like some others here, Mr. Shelef seemed ambivalent about the need for an all-out conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, which would probably be devastating for both countries. In the end, he said, quiet will be restored only by means of a diplomatic resolution “with a war or without a war.” |
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Israel cancels accreditation of Norwegian diplomats to Palestinian areas
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| Israel on Thursday revoked the accreditation of eight Norwegian diplomats working as representatives to the Palestinian Authority, drawing a sharp response from Norway’s foreign minister who called it “an extreme act”. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the decision to revoke the diplomats’ status was made in response to what he described as Norway’s anti-Israeli conduct, including its recognition of a Palestinian state. “Norway conducts a one-sided policy on the Palestinian issue, and will therefore be removed from the Palestinian issue,” Katz said in a statement. Norway blames the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the diplomatic spat and is now considering its response to the situation, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide said in a statement. “This is an extreme act that primarily affects our ability to help the Palestinian population … Today’s decision will have consequences for our relationship with the Netanyahu government,” he said. |
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State Dept calls for Israel to investigate allegations of ‘horrific’ sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees
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| The US State Department called allegations of sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees by Israeli soldiers “horrific” and said Israel must investigate “swiftly” and “fully,” according to a State Department spokesperson. “There ought to be zero tolerance of any sexual abuse, rape, of any detainees, period,” said State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller at a press briefing. The statement comes after Israeli media obtained leaked surveillance video that allegedly showed Israeli soldiers sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman base in Israel’s Negev desert. The footage, broadcast by Israeli channel N12, appears to show a group of detainees lying on the ground at the controversial desert detention facility. A group of soldiers can be seen taking a detainee to a corner of the facility. Several Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers, who were working as guards at the base, are under investigation for the alleged “suspected substantial abuse” of a Palestinian prisoner. The IDF said last month that its Military Police Criminal Investigation Division (MPCID) was formally looking into the allegations. |
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Israeli minister says it may be ‘moral’ to starve 2 million Gazans, but ‘no one in the world would let us’
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| Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said “it may be just and moral” to starve 2 million Gaza residents until Israeli hostages are returned, but “no one in the world would let us.” In a speech on Monday at the Katif Conference for National Responsibility in the town of Yad Binyamin, the far-right minister said Israel should take control of distributing aid inside Gaza and claimed that Hamas was in control of distribution channels within the strip. “It is impossible in today’s global reality to wage war – no one in the world would let us starve and thirst two million citizens, even though it may be just and moral until they return our hostages,” he said, adding that if Israel controlled aid distribution instead of Hamas, the war would have ended by now and the hostages would have returned. “You cannot fight Hamas with one hand and give them aid with the other. It’s his (Hamas’) money, it’s his fuel, it’s his civilian control of the Gaza Strip. It just doesn’t work,” he said. |
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Western Powers Increasingly Concerned About Growing Russia-Iran Cooperation
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| A senior U.S. official told Haaretz that there have been growing indications of Russian involvement in helping in the Iranian-orchestrated axis of resistance. That has been apparent not only in UN addresses and votes but in the form of military cooperation. Based on information provided by the Biden administration, The Wall Street Journal reported two weeks ago that Russia had tried to deliver ammunition to the Houthi rebels in Yemen, including missiles to attack Red Sea shipping and equipment to upgrade drones. The attempt not only encountered U.S. opposition but also caused serious concerns on the part of Saudi Arabia, which borders Yemen and has been involved in the country’s long civil war on the side of the Houthis’ opponents. |
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Interview | The Radicalization of Israel’s Military
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| “And remember, as a soldier, the settlers are on our side, and Palestinians are the enemy, so we’re not going to protect the enemy. Because the settlers host us for a Friday-night schnitzel, because they speak our language, because they have political power. But it’s also because they are completely integrated into the system. On Friday night, they host us for schnitzel. On Sunday morning, or on Monday morning, their security officers sit in the briefings at the headquarters and get updates on what’s happening. On Tuesday, they go and use our shooting range to stay in good shape, whatever. And on Thursday, we’re going to arrest them? Lawlessness and violence was allowed because the relationship between the military and the settlers on the ground became so symbiotic. It is now so symbiotic that it’s not clear any more where the military starts and ends, and where the civilians start and end.” |
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