 |
|
I’m writing as a J Street advocacy leader to share several updates from the past week, including renewed ceasefire efforts between Israel and Hamas, alarming comments by former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on the Netanyahu government’s strategy in Gaza, and the status of Israel’s fragile ceasefire with Hezbollah.
As always, please feel free to reach out to J Street’s Public Affairs staff with any questions.
All the best,
Lily
—
Lily Adelstein
She/Her
Deputy Director of Government Affairs, J Street
Cell: 202-699-2701
J Street’s Congressional Resource Page
|
This week on j street
|
|
|
| STATEMENT |
|
Biden Must Enforce US Law on Military Aid to Israel
|
| Read more → |
|
|
|
|
|
| WORD ON THE STREET WITH J STREET PRESIDENT JEREMY BEN-AMI |
|
What Does It Really Mean To Be Pro-Israel?
|
| Read more → |
|
|
|
|
|
| STATEMENT |
|
J Street Welcomes Lebanon Ceasefire
|
| Read more → |
|
|
|
|
|
| STATEMENT |
|
Georgia Jewish Leaders Voice Support for Senators Warnock and Ossoff
|
| Read more → |
|
|
|
|
|
| STATEMENT |
|
Statement on the Murder of Chabad Emissary Rabbi Zvi Kogan
|
| Read more → |
|
|
|
|
|
What we’re reading
|
Israel Builds Bases in Central Gaza, a Sign It May Be There to Stay
|
| The Israeli military has been expanding its presence in central Gaza in recent months, fortifying military bases and demolishing Palestinian buildings, according to Israeli officials and satellite images, a move that suggests that it may be preparing to exert long-term control over the area… The expansion has also raised speculation about Israel’s plans for Gaza’s future. Israelis leaders have vowed to maintain security control in Gaza even after the war, without saying clearly what that might entail. Israeli military analysts say the increase in infrastructure along the Netzarim corridor might serve that purpose. |
| read more |
Hamas official says Gaza ceasefire talks have resumed after weekslong hiatus
|
| A Hamas official said Thursday that international mediators have resumed negotiating with the militant group and Israel over a ceasefire in Gaza, and that he was hopeful a deal to end the 14-month war was within reach. Ceasefire negotiations were halted last month when Qatar suspended talks with mediators from Egypt and the United States because of frustration over a lack of progress between Israel and Hamas. But there has been a “reactivation” of efforts in recent days to end the fighting, release hostages from Gaza and free Palestinian prisoners in Israel, according to Bassem Naim, an official in Hamas’ political bureau who spoke with The Associated Press in Turkey. |
| read more |
Israeli and Hezbollah strikes test limits of ceasefire
|
| The Israeli military said it targeted Hezbollah fighters, rocket launchers and infrastructure. However, in a statement it added, that: “The State of Israel remains obligated to the fulfilment of the conditions of the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon.” Both sides have accused each other of violating the truce brokered by the US and France in recent days. Under its terms, Israel is prohibited from conducting offensive military operations in Lebanon while Lebanon must prevent armed groups, including Hezbollah, from launching attacks on Israel. |
| read more |
Former Defense Minister Accuses Israel of Committing War Crimes in Gaza
|
| A former Israeli defense minister has accused Israel of committing war crimes and ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip, a rare critique from a member of the security establishment at a time of war…“The path they’re dragging us down is to occupy, annex, and ethnically cleanse — look at the northern strip,” he said. He also said Israel was being pulled in the direction of building settlements in Gaza, a notion that is supported by far-right politicians in Mr. Netanyahu’s government…The comments by Moshe Yaalon were swiftly denied and condemned by allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who said that they would hurt the country and help its enemies. |
| read more |
Hamas threatens to ‘neutralize’ hostages if Israel launches rescue operation
|
| Hamas said it had information that Israel intended to carry out a hostage rescue operation similar to one conducted in Gaza’s Nuseirat camp in June and threatened to “neutralize” the captives if any such action took place, according to an internal statement seen by Reuters on Wednesday. In the statement dated Nov. 22, Hamas told its operatives not to consider what the repercussions of following the instructions might be and said it held Israel responsible for the fate of the hostages. The statement, which a senior Hamas source told Reuters was circulated to its factions by the intelligence unit of the group’s military wing Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, did not say when any Israeli operation was expected to take place. |
| read more |
Predetermined Conclusion’: Amnesty Israel Rejects Gaza Genocide Report by Amnesty International
|
| The Israeli branch of Amnesty rejected the international organization’s new report that accuses Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip. “[We] found sufficient basis to conclude that Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip,” the report, which was published Wednesday, states. In response to the report, Amnesty Israel, which operates as a separate NGO from the international body, said that despite the scope of attacks on civilians in Gaza, it is doubtful that “the element of intent in perpetrating the full or partial extermination of the Palestinian population in the framework of the war” has been proven. |
| read more |
Israeli settlers attack two Palestinian towns and their own military in West Bank
|
| Israeli settlers attacked two Palestinian towns early on Wednesday, setting fire to property and hurling stones, after police looked to dismantle an illegal settler outpost in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military said. Police and the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service said they had arrested eight people for assaulting security forces and damaging property. Palestinian officials said settlers set one house and two cars ablaze in Huwara, a town near the city of Nablus that has been targeted in the past by radical settlers who want Israel to claim sovereignty over all West Bank territory. A group of settlers also torched a property in the nearby town of Beit Furik. |
| read more |
As Israel bans UNRWA, Palestinians stand to lose schools and clinics, not only in Gaza
|
| About 600 girls up to ninth grade attend this elementary/preparatory school, located inside the Qalandia refugee camp. It is one of about 100 schools — with a total of 45,000 students — in the West Bank and East Jerusalem that are operated by UNRWA, the United Nations agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees… But new legislation requiring Israel to cut ties with UNRWA has thrown the future of Qalandia and the agency’s other schools into doubt. A question mark also hangs over dozens of UNRWA-operated health clinics and the wide-ranging social services the agency provides, not only in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, but also in war-torn Gaza. Without the cooperation of Israel that has existed since UNRWA’s inception some 75 years ago, many fear the agency cannot continue functioning, as supplies and staff are halted at Israeli checkpoints. |
| read more |
Opinion | Why you should be worried for Israeli democracy
|
| “Today, almost two years after it took office and immediately set about attempting to gain control of the judicial system, Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing, far-right and ultra-Orthodox coalition is moving to consolidate ever more authority in the government’s hands — at the expense of the gatekeepers of democracy and all state, security and civil establishments, including the court system, the police, the state prosecution, the office of the attorney general, the IDF, Shin Bet and the free press.” |
| read more |
Opinion | Sen. Van Hollen: History will judge Biden harshly on Gaza
|
| “President Biden has a limited amount of time to take action. But even at this late hour, it is critical that he do so — even at the risk that President-elect Trump will reverse course. The United States must send a strong signal to the people of Israel, to Palestinians and to the world that we will not stand idly by as the extremist Netanyahu government dismantles the possibility of peace in the Middle East and ignores the root causes of conflict: the need for security and self-determination for both Israelis and Palestinians. To send this signal, President Biden should immediately impose sanctions on the ultraright members of the Netanyahu government who have fomented violence and supported expanded settlements on the West Bank, including Smotrich and Ben Gvir. The United States must draw a red line against further settlements, not just in words but in deeds.” |
| read more |
