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I’m writing as a J Street advocacy leader to share important updates from the region as well as J Street’s statements and resources from the past week.
J Street mourned the antisemitic terror attack in Australia and the shooting at Brown University. Amid these tragedies, President Jeremy Ben-Ami and Chief Policy Officer Ilan Goldenberg spoke with JCPA CEO Amy Spitalnick about rising antisemitism and how communities can respond. J Street supported the newly introduced Antisemitism Reduction and Prevention Act, led by Reps. Nadler, DeLauro, Balint, and Frost. Meanwhile, tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have escalated following Israeli airstrikes in southern and northeastern Lebanon, as pressure mounts ahead of a deadline tied to efforts to disarm Hezbollah, while the IPC confirmed that no areas of Gaza are currently classified as famine even as humanitarian needs remain dire. The Trump Administration expanded travel bans to include Palestinian Authority travel documents, a move J Street strongly rejected, emphasizing that true safety comes from inclusion, supported by thoughtful safeguards and cooperation—not indiscriminate bans that punish entire communities and make everyone less safe.
This will be our last J Street News Digest of 2025. J Street wishes you a Happy New Year and here’s to a brighter 2026!
You can find more on each of these developments and others below, along with 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
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Lily Adelstein
She/Her
Deputy Director of Government Affairs, J Street
Cell: 202-699-2701
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This week on j street
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| Statement |
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J Street Condemns Antisemitic Terror Attack in Australia
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| Statement |
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J Street Rejects Trump’s Blanket Bans Targeting Palestinians and Other Immigrants
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| Expert Analysis |
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Netanyahu’s Pardon Gamble and What It Means For Israeli Democracy
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| Substack LIVE |
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Amy Spitalnick on the Attack in Australia and Combating Antisemitism
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| Statement |
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J Street U Stands in Solidarity After Recent Violent Attacks
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What we’re reading
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Anger, grief and a search for answers in wake of Australian shooting
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| As they gathered on Monday near the site of Australia’s worst terrorist attack, where two gunmen had opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration the previous evening, Jewish Australians expressed both grief and frustration…Australia’s deadliest mass shooting in almost 30 years has sparked an outpouring of grief, anger and solidarity for the country’s roughly 120,000 Jews, which include the highest per capita population of Holocaust survivors outside of Israel. It has also sparked calls for even tighter gun restrictions in a nation already known for them. Fifteen people attending the Hanukkah celebration, ranging from a 10-year-old girl to an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, were killed in the attack. More than 40 were hospitalized, with 27 remaining in Sydney hospitals on Monday evening. |
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Trump expands travel ban to Syrians, Palestinians and others
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| President Trump on Tuesday expanded his administration’s travel ban with full restrictions against five new countries and people with Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents, as well as partial restrictions on 15 countries. Why it matters: The move is part of the administration’s crackdown on travel and immigration into the US… The Trump administration instituted full restrictions and entry limitations against Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria, as well as people with travel documents issued by the Palestinian Authority. |
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Scoop: White House scolded Netanyahu for violating Gaza ceasefire with strike
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| The White House sent a stern private message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressing that the killing of a top Hamas military commander over the weekend constituted a violation of the ceasefire agreement brokered by President Trump, two U.S. officials tell Axios… On Saturday, Israel killed Raed Saad, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing and one of the alleged architects of the Oct. 7 attacks. The attack in Gaza City killed four people in total. U.S. officials said the Israeli government didn’t notify or consult the U.S. ahead of the strike. Behind the scenes: “The White House message to Netanyahu was: ‘If you want to ruin your reputation and show that you don’t abide by agreements be our guest, but we won’t allow you to ruin President Trump’s reputation after he brokered the deal in Gaza,” a senior U.S. official said. |
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Coast Guard enacts policy calling swastikas, nooses ‘potentially divisive’
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| The U.S. Coast Guard has allowed a new workplace harassment policy to take effect that downgrades the definition of swastikas and nooses from overt hate symbols to “potentially divisive” despite an uproar over the new language that forced the service’s top officer to direct that both would remain prohibited… “Granting hate symbols like swastikas and nooses even an ounce of respectability is absolutely an anathema. This edict besmirches the Coast Guard’s honor, and DHS should be ashamed. At a time when antisemitic and racist violence are at unconscionable levels, it is absolutely appalling that DHS is doubling down on such a hateful, destructive policy,” read a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi L. Noem from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), who sits on the Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs committees. |
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Food security improving since Gaza truce, but challenges abound — top UN aid official
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| The deputy director of the United Nations’ World Food Programme says food security in Gaza has improved since a ceasefire came into place two months ago, even as the broader humanitarian situation remains dire due to a variety of unaddressed challenges… Hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans face their tents and shelters being flooded by heavy rains, and materials for shelters and sandbags are not being allowed to enter the enclave, the UN International Organization for Migration said on Friday…While the amount of aid has improved significantly since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10, Israeli figures put the average of aid trucks entering the Strip each day at roughly 460 — well under the 600 benchmark stipulated in the truce deal signed by Israel and Hamas. |
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‘Altering Demography’: Israel Bars Displaced Palestinians From Returning to West Bank Homes
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| Palestinian Authority officials said Israel is preventing the return of thousands of displaced families to refugee camps in the West Bank in an attempt to “eliminate” the refugee issue, disputing Israeli claims that the nearly year-long displacement stems from security concerns. Regional governors say security needs do not justify the extent of the destruction, especially given that entire camps have been emptied of their residents. They estimate that the goal is “to alter the geographic and demographic reality” of the camps and deal a blow against the refugees’ right of return. |
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Israel launches intense airstrikes in Lebanon as deadline looms to disarm Hezbollah
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| Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on southern and northeastern Lebanon on Thursday as a deadline looms to disarm the militant Hezbollah group along the countries’ tense frontier. The strikes came a day before a meeting of the committee monitoring the enforcement of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that halted the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah a year ago. The gathering on Friday will be the second meeting of the mechanism after Israel and Lebanon appointed civilian members to a previously military-only committee. The group also includes the United States, France and the U.N. peacekeeping force deployed along the border. |
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Israel Approves $37 Billion Deal to Deliver Gas to Egypt
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| Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Wednesday said that he had approved the “largest gas deal” in the country’s history, granting an export permit for a $37 billion agreement allowing Chevron and other energy companies to significantly expand gas deliveries to neighboring Egypt. Mr. Netanyahu trumpeted the agreement, saying it would bolster Israel’s regional position, generate about $18 billion in taxes and other revenue over time and help to ensure that energy prices remain affordable for Israeli consumers. “This deal greatly strengthens Israel’s status as a regional energy power and contributes to stability in our region,” he said in a statement. |
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ICC rejects Israeli bid to halt Gaza war investigation
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| Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday rejected one in a series of legal challenges brought by Israel against the court’s probe into its conduct of the Gaza war. On appeal, judges refused to overturn a lower court decision that the prosecution’s investigation into alleged crimes under its jurisdiction could include events following the deadly attack on Israel by militant Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, 2023. The ruling means the investigation continues and the arrest warrants issued, opens new tab last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence chief Yoav Gallant remain in place. Israel rejects the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza, where it has waged a military campaign it says is aimed at eliminating Hamas following the October 7 attacks. The ICC initially also issued a warrant for Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, but withdrew that later following credible reports of his death. |
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