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I hope you are doing well.
I’m writing to share important updates from the region, as well as J Street’s statements and resources from this past week. As a reminder, you can always find our most recent statements here.
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
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This week on j street
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| STATEMENT |
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PRESIDENT BIDEN MUST MAKE CLEAR THAT THE NETANYAHU GOVERNMENT’S STEALTH ANNEXATION IS WHOLLY UNACCEPTABLE
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What we’re reading
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U.S. to release part of suspended bomb shipment to Israel
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| The Biden administration is expected to soon release 500-lb. bombs that were part of a weapons shipment to Israel put on hold in April over U.S. concerns about the Israel Defense Forces’ military operation in Rafah, one U.S. and one Israeli official told Axios. The move suggests the U.S. is now less concerned about Israel possibly using these bombs in Gaza and that the White House wants to decrease some of the tension between President Biden and Israel’s supporters over his decision to withhold this specific shipment. About 1,700 500-lb. bombs are expected to be delivered after Israel’s operation in Rafah ends, which is expected to happen in two weeks, according to an Israeli official. Israel says it needs the bombs in case fighting with Hezbollah on the northern border escalates into an all out war. U.S. and Israeli officials say the Biden administration is still reviewing another part of the shipment that includes 1,800 2,000-lb. bombs. |
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Security cabinet okays legalizing 5 outposts, sanctioning PA officials
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| The security cabinet on Thursday night approved legalizing five West Bank outposts and a series of sanctions against the Palestinian Authority. The action was first announced in a statement by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and later confirmed by Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs. The Prime Minister’s Office did not make any immediate comment. In return for the measures, Smotrich will sign off on moves unfreezing the last three months of tax funds withheld from the Palestinian Authority, a senior Israeli official told The Times of Israel. |
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IDF transfers powers in occupied West Bank to pro-settler civil servants
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| The transfer of laws, which was largely unremarked upon in Israel, follows a years-long campaign by pro-settlement politicians to accrue many of the legal powers previously wielded by the military chain of command. The laws cover everything from building regulations to the administration of agriculture, forestry, parks and bathing locations. Lawyers have long warned that transferring them from military to political control would risk bringing Israel into conflict with its responsibilities under international law. After entering government, Smotrich moved quickly to approve thousands of new settlement homes, legalize previously unauthorized wildcat outposts, and make it more difficult for Palestinians to build homes and move around. Reports in the Israeli media say US officials have privately discussed the possibility of imposing sanctions on Smotrich over his destabilizing impact on the West Bank, where he lives in a settlement that is illegal under international law. |
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US, Israel see easing of Gaza fighting as Hezbollah ‘off-ramp’ to avoid war
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| The US and Israel are hoping that an imminent scaling back of intensive fighting in Gaza will provide Lebanese terror group Hezbollah with an “off-ramp” to back away from near-daily border attacks that have sent the region spiraling toward a larger conflict, two US and Israeli officials told The Times of Israel on Thursday. The US has placed a major emphasis on keeping tensions on Israel’s northern border from snowballing into all-out war, working to broker a long-shot diplomatic deal while pinning its hopes on a ceasefire in Gaza leading to the restoration of calm between Israel and Hezbollah. A Gaza truce has remained elusive however, leading Washington and Jerusalem to begin discussing alternative strategies for deescalating tensions between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group; the Biden administration fears a major regional escalation if the current trajectory of fighting between the sides continues, the two officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. |
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Aid convoys in Gaza are risky for IDF, but key to the war’s success, says officer
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| Securing humanitarian aid convoys and airdrops is a “very complex challenge” for IDF ground forces operating in the central Gaza Strip, according to a senior officer in the 679th Yiftah Armored Brigade. Speaking to The Times of Israel from the brigade’s rear command post in the southern community of Urim, some 10 kilometers from the border with southern Gaza, Lt. Col. (Res.) Dan Doron, 56, said ensuring that aid flows through its sector in the Netzarim Corridor is one of the unit’s core missions, despite the dangers. “For us, protecting the humanitarian aid and the humanitarian routes is the oxygen hose for Israel to continue carrying out its mission,” he said… Getting humanitarian aid to Palestinians civilians has been a major challenge throughout the war in Gaza, which began with the devastating Hamas assault on Israeli communities and military posts on October 7, including the base currently hosting the brigade’s rear war room. |
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Egypt, UAE prepared to participate in postwar Gaza security force — officials
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| Egypt and the United Arab Emirates are prepared to participate in a postwar Gaza security force, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed counterparts during his recent visit to the region, three officials familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Tuesday. The US has been looking to recruit Arab allies for the initiative, as it readies to roll out its vision for the postwar management of Gaza, even though a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas terror group remains elusive. During visits to Qatar, Egypt, Israel and Jordan two weeks ago, Blinken informed interlocutors that the US has made progress on the issue, receiving support from Cairo and Abu Dhabi for the creation of a force that would work alongside local Palestinian officers, according to an Arab official, a US official and a third source familiar with the matter. |
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Israel re-establishes working groups on Iran nuclear program
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| Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu two weeks ago re-established working groups made up of members of Israel’s defense establishment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the intelligence community to focus on Iran’s nuclear program, three senior Israeli officials told Axios… Israel and the U.S. are concerned Iran will try to advance its nuclear technology, including weaponization efforts, in the weeks leading to the U.S. presidential elections, according to two Israeli and two U.S. officials. Israeli and U.S. officials said U.S. leaders’ attention might be divided between the campaign and the continued crisis in Gaza, and the U.S. could struggle to respond quickly to any Iranian nuclear advances during this period. The officials also said there is concern Iranian leaders might try to use the post-election transition period in the U.S. to “break” towards a nuclear weapon. |
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Analysis | Israel’s many conflicts could soon crack its Iron Dome
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| A new conflict in Lebanon would challenge Iron Dome in another way: Israel doesn’t have an infinite number of interceptor missiles in its stockpile. Haimovich says that since Oct. 7, Israel has fended off attacks from every direction. As it has done so, it has been expending missiles faster than they can be manufactured. “After eight months of thousands of interceptions, it’s a big challenge,” he says. Karako says that if there is a broader war with Hezbollah, it’s unlikely that Iron Dome can provide the kind of protection that Israelis have grown accustomed to. But, he adds, that’s not surprising. The reality is that no magical shield can protect citizens forever. “Air defense buys time — buys decision-makers time to end the conflict by other means,” he says. But, he adds, “just because you buy time doesn’t guarantee that decision-makers will make good decisions.” |
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Analysis | What the Court’s Ruling on Drafting the Ultra-Orthodox Means for Israel
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| The Israeli Supreme Court’s ruling on Tuesday that ended a decades-old exemption for ultra-Orthodox Jews from serving in the country’s military could herald a seismic change in the trajectory of the country, with social, political and security implications. The ruling is likely to further strain Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s brittle governing coalition, which depends on the support of two ultra-Orthodox parties that support the exemption, even as Israel is at war in Gaza. The issue of ultra-Orthodox exemption has long polarized a country where most Jewish 18-year-olds, both men and women, are conscripted for years of obligatory service. Mainstream Israelis have long bristled over a lack of equality. More recently, the monthslong war in Gaza and looming conflicts on other fronts have underscored the military’s need for more soldiers. |
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Opinion | We Are Israelis Calling on Congress to Disinvite Netanyahu
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| Inviting Mr. Netanyahu will reward his contempt for U.S. efforts to establish a peace plan, allow more aid to the beleaguered people of Gaza and do a better job of sparing civilians. Time and again, he has rejected President Biden’s plan to remove Hamas from power in Gaza through the establishment of a peacekeeping force. Such a move would very likely bring in its wake a far broader regional alliance, including a vision to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is not only in Israel’s interest but also in the interest of both political parties in the United States. Mr. Netanyahu constitutes the main obstacle to these outcomes. The man who will address Congress next month has failed to assume responsibility for the blunders that allowed the Hamas assault, initially blaming security chiefs (then quickly backtracking), and has yet to announce the establishment of a direly needed state commission of inquiry headed by a Supreme Court judge to look into the fiasco. |
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