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I hope you are doing well.
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. This week, Prime Minister Netanyahu signaled that the war’s primary aim is defeating Hamas–rather than returning the hostages; Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid to Gaza persisted, even as aid groups warned of worsening conditions on the ground; and Secretary Rubio pushed to eliminate the U.S. security coordinator role for the West Bank and Gaza.
You can find more on each of these developments and others below, along with our most recent statements here.
Please feel free to reach out to your J Street Public Affairs staff if you have 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
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J Street Welcomes the Nadler, Smith, Himes Settler Violence Sanctions Bill
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10 Jewish Organizations to Senate: Trump’s Abuse of Antisemitism to Fight Civil Liberties is Reason to Not Give Him More Powers
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Hundreds of Rabbis Condemn President Trump’s Exploitation of Genuine Fears of Antisemitism
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MPAC and J Street Joint Statement On Use of Fighting Antisemitism as Pretext to Suppress Free Speech and Civil Liberties
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| BLOG |
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A Personal Reflection on Israel’s Independence Day
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What we’re reading
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Israel redraws Gaza map, limiting Palestinians to a third of the enclave
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| In the six weeks since Israel resumed its war in Gaza, Israeli forces have dramatically altered its map, declaring about 70 percent of the enclave either a military “red zone” or under evacuation, according to the United Nations, and pushing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into ever-shrinking pockets. The Israeli military says its evacuation orders allow civilians to flee ahead of fighting, and those who remain could be considered combatants. In practice, Palestinians say, the evacuation orders often force them to flee under fire. Recent evacuation orders have covered border areas and population centers and have displaced more than 420,000 people, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). |
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Netanyahu: Return of hostages important, but war’s ‘supreme goal’ is victory over enemies
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| Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that “victory” over Hamas, not the return of the hostages, was the supreme objective of the war in Gaza, provoking anger from captives’ families. The controversy came as hostages’ families in recent days accused Netanyahu of sabotaging a potential truce-hostage deal and withholding information about the remaining 59 captives. |
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In raw speech, Rachel Goldberg-Polin tells foreign envoys they can get hostages freed
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| With President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and US Ambassador Mike Huckabee in attendance, the mother of murdered hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin told foreign diplomats on Thursday that they have the ability to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza. “It is absolutely doable, as long as people with power decide it is an interest and an equity for them,” Rachel Goldberg-Polin said in an emotional address at Herzog’s annual Independence Day reception for the foreign diplomatic corps in Israel. “Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise…” The controversy came as hostages’ families in recent days accused Netanyahu of sabotaging a potential truce-hostage deal and withholding information about the remaining 59 captives. |
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Israeli Firefighters Gain Control Over Blaze Near Jerusalem
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| In 2021, Palestinian firefighters joined Israeli efforts to deal with a similar wildfire near Jerusalem. The current Israeli government has frequently criticized the Palestinian Authority, even though they cooperate closely on security in the West Bank. Israel’s fire and rescue service issued an order banning the lighting of fires in open spaces until May 7, but it said Israelis could hold barbecues in designated areas. Many Israelis flock annually to parks and beaches to hold barbecues on Independence Day, a holiday to commemorate the founding of the country. |
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Rubio looks to cut security coordinator role for West Bank, Gaza
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| Secretary of State Marco Rubio is considering eliminating the security coordinator role for the West Bank and Gaza Strip as part of a broader staffing overhaul, according to five U.S., Palestinian, Arab and Israeli sources. Held by a three-star general, the role involves coordinating between political and military officials in Israel and the Palestinian Authority to try to avoid and contain security crises. It has become especially important as the security situation in the occupied West Bank has continued to deteriorate. Sources who spoke to Axios expressed concern that eliminating it could lead to further destabilization in the West Bank at a time when the war in Gaza is still ongoing. |
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Trump threatens sanctions against buyers of Iranian oil after US-Iran nuclear talks are postponed
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| President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened sanctions on anyone who buys Iranian oil, a warning that came after planned talks over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program were postponed. Trump wrote on social media, “All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW!” He said any country or person who buys those products from Iran will not be able to do business with the United States “in any way, shape, or form…” Trump’s social media threat came after Oman announced planned nuclear negotiations for this coming weekend had been postponed. Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi made the announcement in a post on the social platform X. |
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Israel says it carried out strike to protect Druze in Syria, warns Damascus to ensure their safety
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| The IDF carried out a strike on an armed group preparing to attack a Druze community in the town of Sahnaya in Syria’s Damascus province, say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz in a joint statement. They call the strike a “warning operation.” Israel also conveys a “serious message” to Syria’s leadership: “Israel expects it to act to prevent harm to the Druze.” |
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Far-right Ben-Gvir Says He Met Four GOP Members of Congress, Clashed With Protesters at U.S. Capitol
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| On the last day of his first visit to the United States while in office, Itamar Ben-Gvir made it to the halls of Congress. The far-right Israeli national security minister announced that he met with four Republican members of Congress on Monday, capping a weeklong trip that otherwise largely stuck to right-wing Jewish groups and communities, and included multiple cancellations amid backlash. The Capitol Hill meetings were notable because, several years ago, Ben-Gvir was considered too extreme to even partner with other right-wing politicians in Israel. Now he is a [lynchpin] to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition. In November, nearly 90 Democratic Congress members unsuccessfully urged then-President Joe Biden to bar Ben-Gvir from entering the United States. |
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Opinion | Trump Should Not Give Israel a Pass on Gaza Blockade
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| “The new U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, posted a videotaped statement about U.S. policy on Gaza last week… No one can argue with the need to pressure Hamas, which is responsible for one of the most horrific massacres in recent times and so much human suffering since. But Huckabee’s message was also shockingly problematic: By linking U.S. support for humanitarian assistance in Gaza to the goal of Hamas’s capitulation, he was officially endorsing a policy of collective punishment that is inconsistent with U.S. and international law, offensive to American values, and counterproductive to Washington’s foreign-policy goals.” |
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