 |
|
I hope you are doing well.
I’m writing to share important updates from the region, as well as J Street’s statements from this past week. As a reminder, you can always find our most recent statements on J Street crisis response page
I’m also happy to share that J Street is hiring for a Deputy Director of Government Affairs and registered lobbyist position – please feel free to share with anyone who might be interested.
All the best,
Hannah
—
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
|
|
|
| STATEMENT |
|
J STREET TO LOBBY FOR VAN HOLLEN ARMS ACCOUNTABILITY AMENDMENT TO THE SUPPLEMENTAL
|
| Read more → |
|
|
|
|
|
What we’re reading
|
In first since war, cabinet approves reopening of Israeli crossing to Gaza for aid to enter
|
 |
| The cabinet has voted to approve the reopening of Israel’s Kerem Shalom Crossing for the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza for the first time since the outbreak of the war on October 7, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announces today. The statement comes after escalating pressure from the Biden administration and hours after US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan wrapped up his final meetings in Israel. Netanyahu’s office reveals for the first time that Israel had committed as part of the truce that secured the release of 105 hostages last month it would facilitate the entry of 200 trucks per day of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Egypt’s Rafah crossing, which until now has been the only one open for the entry of aid, has only been able to keep up with 100 trucks per day, even after Israel began using Kerem Shalom for inspections earlier this week in addition to its Nitzana Crossing, said Netanyahu’s office… The cabinet decision only extends to aid from Egypt and not the United Nations, an Israeli official says. Netanyahu’s office also reveals that “the US has pledged to finance the upgrading of the Rafah crossing as quickly as possible” so that the Egyptian access point will eventually be beefed up enough to be the sole crossing where aid is allowed into the Strip and so that Israeli crossings will not be needed for this purpose as well. |
| read more |
“High intensity” phase of Gaza war needs to end within weeks, Sullivan tells Netanyahu
|
 |
| Israel’s war in Gaza needs to “transition to the next lower intensity phase in a matter of weeks, not months,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of the war cabinet in a meeting on Thursday, according to two U.S. and Israeli officials. The Biden administration has backed the Israeli response to the Oct. 7 attack and says it supports Israel’s stated goal of ousting Hamas in Gaza, but the White House is under mounting international and domestic pressure to tell Israel to end the war. The rate of civilian deaths in Gaza is outpacing those of other conflict zones in the 21st century. Mounting casualties have been accompanied by a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in the enclave. Biden administration officials think that moving to lower-intensity fighting will decrease civilian casualties, allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza and decrease the risk for regional war. Biden said he wants Israel to be focused on how to save civilian lives in Gaza. “Not stop going after Hamas, but be more careful,” he told reporters during a visit to the National Institutes of Health in Washington on Thursday. |
| read more |
U.S. seeks Israeli commitment that assault rifles won’t go to settlers
|
 |
| The Biden administration is seeking firmer commitments from Israel that U.S.-made weapons will not get into the hands of Israeli settlers before approving licenses to sell more than 20,000 assault rifles to Israel, said three people familiar with the matter. Washington’s concern about the potential sale, worth about $34 million in total, comes amid a rise in violence between Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank and growing Biden administration frustration about how Israel is conducting the war in southern Gaza… Israeli officials have told their U.S. counterparts that the rifles would be used by the national police force, but concerns remain that the country’s ultranationalist national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, may give out the rifles to extremist settlers anyway… Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, Ben Gvir has pushed to loosen strict firearm-licensing requirements and create more civilian “standby teams” to harden communities. The holdup over the assault rifles represents a rare instance of reluctance by the Biden administration to provide weapons to Israel, after having expedited a substantial delivery of bombs and artillery to the country in the last two months. |
| read more |
‘A disservice to the American public’: Democrats rip Biden over weapons sale to Israel
|
 |
| Democratic lawmakers are frustrated over President Joe Biden’s move to bypass Congress and approve the direct sale of tank shells to Israel, saying the administration needs to be more transparent about the weapons it’s sending to the Middle East ally. The criticism from Democrats came after the State Department approved the sale of nearly 14,000 tank shells worth roughly $106 million from U.S. Army stocks on Friday. To do so, it made an emergency declaration under the Arms Export Control Act that skipped normal congressional review channels. “Do I have concerns? Yes, I do in regard to that,” said House Foreign Affairs ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), who added that he was informed ahead of the sale by the administration. “Not because it’s Israel or anyone else, because of any funding in that regards, it should come to us.” Meeks and the other leaders of the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees normally must sign off on foreign military sales… Some Democrats drew the comparison to the Trump administration, which similarly circumvented Congress to speed weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, sparking an uproar on Capitol Hill… The fight could culminate in a legislative push to terminate the sale, as the Trump-era maneuver did. |
| read more |
US still unclear on what happens when the fighting between Israel and Hamas ends
|
 |
| As the war between Israel and Hamas passes the two-month mark, it’s still unclear how the fighting will end and how long it will last, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday… “Of course, everyone wants to see this campaign come to a close as quickly as possible. But any country faced with what Israel is facing, a terrorist organization that attacked in the most horrific way possible on Oct. 7, and, as I said, has said repeatedly that it would do it again and again — it has to get to the point where it is confident that that can’t be repeated,” Blinken said Sunday. The United States, Blinken said, wants to see this end with the formation of a Palestinian state side by side with Israel. “From our perspective, I think from the perspective of many around the world, that has to lead to a Palestinian state. This is — we’re not going to have durable peace, we’re not going to have durable security for Israel unless and until Palestinian political aspirations are met,” Blinken said. |
| read more |
Analysis | Not Only Atrocity Denial and Desolation: Why This Palestinian Poll Matters
|
 |
| Hamas’ actions putting Gaza on the world stage apparently look quite effective to Palestinians. Given the renewed urgent international attention to reviving diplomacy to resolve the conflict, Hamas made a good argument for using force. The portion of people who support armed struggle as the most effective means to end the occupation rose ten points from September, to 63 percent. The survey shows a people in the throes of despair. Nearly all countries with an impact on Palestinian life receive terrible ratings (Yemen, a new player in town, got high scores but has no role in Palestinian life). Qatar alone gets a rating of “satisfied” from a majority of Palestinians (56 percent) regarding its role in the war; Iran, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Russia and China all get only a minority, in descending order. As for Western actors, you don’t want to know: It’s single digits for all and fewer than one percent who are satisfied with the U.S. Palestinian leaders fare no better: resentment of the Palestinian Authority has hit new heights, with 88 percent who want Mahmoud Abbas to resign from his role as President. Let me stop and make a case for why this survey matters. In a sea of questionable research, what matters for distinguishing the good ones are methodology, and transparency. |
| read more |
Analysis | For Netanyahu, Gaza Dispute With Biden Offers Risk and Reward
|
 |
| A day after President Biden voiced his strongest criticism of the Israeli government since the war in Gaza began, many Israelis were moving past the public rupture on Wednesday, with some suggesting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might seek political benefit from escalating a fight with the American leader. The disagreement between Israel and its closest ally over what a postwar Gaza should look like poses risks for the Netanyahu government, analysts said, raising questions about how long the United States will continue to offer untrammeled support for the invasion of Gaza. But it also offers Mr. Netanyahu an opportunity to repair his sagging domestic ratings by presenting himself as a leader unbowed by foreign demands. “He’s looking at a potential election campaign a few months down the road,” said Itamar Rabinovich, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington. “This is going to be his platform: ‘I am the leader who can stand up to Biden and prevent a Palestinian state.’” |
| read more |
|
