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| I’m writing to share J Street’s statements and news updates.
Topping our News Digest is the latest information and key analysis regarding the formation of a new ultra right-wing government led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In The New York Times, Jerusalem bureau chief Patrick Kingsley details multiple reasons why current and former Israeli military leaders are alarmed by new powers over Israeli military and police forces serving in the occupied West Bank by Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, ultra far-right partners in Netanyahu’s emerging coalition. The Washington Post describes how empowerment of Israel’s far-right, which is vowing to pursue annexation, is worsening the situation for Palestinians in the occupation in the West Bank even before the new government takes over. Meanwhile, Israel’s Attorney General has issued a stark warning that the Netanyahu bloc’s drive to dramatically weaken judicial review could lead Israel to become ‘a democracy in name only.’
In more positive news closer to home, all of us at J Street were tremendously heartened by President Biden’s signing of the Respect for Marriage Act, which J Street supported. Congrats to all of you who helped make that vital legislation into the law of the land!
As always, you can find our Congressional briefing book, background information on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, recordings of previous briefings and more at J Street’s Congressional Resource Page.
Let me know if you have any questions or would like further information.
All the best,
Debra
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Debra Shushan, PhD
Director of Policy, J Street
mobile: (757) 746-0366 | [email protected] | @DrShushan |
This week on j street
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J STREET WELCOMES BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S INTER-AGENCY ANTISEMITISM TASK FORCE
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JEWISH AMERICAN GROUPS OPPOSE KEVIN MCCARTHY’S THREATS TO STRIP DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS OF COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
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What we’re reading
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Concern Grows in Israel’s Military as Netanyahu Nears Coalition Deal
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| Leading members of the Israeli security establishment fear that image and role is under threat. A significant proportion of rank-and-file soldiers voted for the far right in last month’s general election — mirroring a wider shift in the country at large, but increasing the likelihood of friction between low-ranking soldiers and their commanders. Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition agreement with Mr. Smotrich gave the latter total control of a department within the defense ministry that is staffed by serving soldiers who oversee bureaucratic aspects of the occupation. A separate agreement with Mr. Ben-Gvir would give him control over a special paramilitary police unit that, until now, has worked under the Israeli Army in the West Bank. In interviews with The New York Times, several former officials said that both moves could undermine the army’s chain of command in the West Bank, creating three separate sources of authority instead of only one. Some also said it could amount to a de facto annexation of parts of the West Bank. |
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Rise of Israel’s far right puts focus back on the West Bank occupation
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| Shira Rubin reports, “Even before Religious Zionism assumes office — taking on influential cabinet portfolios that will give them unprecedented control over this contested territory — their promises to set the stage for annexation are exacerbating the daily dangers and indignities of life in the occupied West Bank, residents say. Many warn that Hebron’s bloody, biblically tinged conflict, between its 800 hard-line Israeli settlers and its 200,000 Palestinians, is a test case for the future of relations between the two peoples under the next government.” |
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‘A Democracy in Name Only’: Israel’s AG Sounds Alarm Over Netanyahu’s Legislative Blitz
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| Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara warned on Thursday against the latest bills put forth in the Knesset that are slated to help usher in Benjamin Netanyahu’s next government. Baharav-Miara said that “the legislative proposals being discussed these days – what is known as the ‘legislative blitz’ – are part of a broader agenda. The backlog of proposals on the table, certainly if implemented hastily, which is not based on a comprehensive and long-term view, may disrupt the system of checks and balances between the government authorities.” The first proposal amended one of Israel’s semi-constitutional basic laws to allow Shas head Arye Dery to be appointed as minister despite being sentenced to a suspended prison term. It was swiftly followed by bills subordinating the police chief to the far-right National Security Minister-designate Itamar Ben-Gvir and another granting Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich control of the Civil Administration, a key authority in the West Bank. |
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Israeli Military Admits Shooting 16-Year-Old Palestinian Girl, Calls It ‘Unintentional’
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| The Israeli military admitted Monday that its troops shot Jana Zakarneh, a 16-year-old Palestinian girl who died during a raid in the occupied West Bank on Sunday night, saying she was killed by “unintentional” Israeli fire “aimed at armed gunmen.” “Following an initial inquiry, it was determined that the girl who was killed was hit by unintentional fire aimed at armed gunmen on a roof in the area from which the force was fired upon,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) statement said. |
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Israel Dismantles Illegal Outpost on Galilee Land Claimed by Bedouin
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| Israel began on Wednesday to dismantle an illegal encampment in the Galilee established by Jews claiming to stand for “Jewish sovereignty” and against Bedouin presence in the area. Accompanied by police, officials from the National Unit for Enforcing Planning and Construction Laws removed two of four caravans from the site, which is on land claimed by both local Bedouin and the Jewish National Fund. |
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Iran Ousted From U.N. Women’s Rights Agency in U.S.-Backed Vote
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| Iran was kicked out of the United Nations women’s agency on Wednesday in a U.S.-led vote that came months into Tehran’s brutal crackdown on uprisings driven by women and young people who are demanding an end to the Islamic Republic’s rule. The resolution, backed by 29 members of the U.N. Economic and Social Council, was the strongest symbolic gesture taken so far by the United Nations in response to Iran’s efforts to quell unrest that began after the death in September of a woman being held by the morality police. Iran’s record of discrimination and violence against women were cited as reasons. |
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