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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 on J Street crisis response page
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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J STREET RESPONDS TO THIRD INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE PROVISIONAL MEASURES RULING
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| STATEMENT |
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J STREET CALLS EUROPEAN RECOGNITION OF PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD “IMPORTANT STEP” TO LONG-TERM CONFLICT RESOLUTION; URGES US LEADERSHIP
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| ISSUE BRIEF |
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REPORT ASSESSING CREDIBILITY OF ISRAELI ASSURANCES PURSUANT TO NSM-20
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| STATEMENT |
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J STREET RESPONDS TO ICC PROSECUTOR’S REQUEST FOR ARREST WARRANTS
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What we’re reading
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Opinion | The U.S. assembles the pieces of a possible Gaza war endgame
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| The beginning of an end to the war would be a cease-fire and hostage-release deal, which the Biden administration has been seeking for months. Here, too, there has been some progress. U.S. officials believe talks could resume as soon as this week, even though (or perhaps because) Israel plans a Rafah assault. The elements of an agreement that would bring an eventual end to the war are there — on paper. Because Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition balks at many of the details, the final dealmaking might fall to a future Israeli government. But you can see, in the distance, the contours of a possible exit ramp. |
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Top UN court demands Israel halt military operations in Rafah
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| Israel must immediately halt its military operations in the area of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, the United Nations top court ruled on Friday. The ruling by the International Court of Justice marks a major condemnation of how Israel is conducting its war against Hamas in Gaza, but also leaves open whether the ruling can be enforced. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep up the military operation to achieve “complete victory” over Hamas. |
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Israeli hostage’s family hope kidnap video reminds world of need for deal
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| Naama’s brother, Amit, is on a visit to London to campaign for his sister’s release. He said the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas to secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal were in “a very bad place”. “We hope that this video will encourage all sides to get back to the table and understand that it’s an unbearable humanitarian issue that needs to be solved,” he told the BBC. “This might be the last chance to save them.” |
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U.S. Military Faces Reality in Gaza as Aid Project Struggles
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| The problems, as expected, are on the back end of the operation. Looting of aid trucks has continued, officials said, and forced the World Food Program to suspend operations for two days. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, suspended food distribution in Rafah on Tuesday, citing lack of security. It added that it had not received any medical supplies for 10 days because of closures and disruptions at the Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings. |
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Israel’s FM Cuts Ties Between Spanish Embassy and West Bank Palestinians After Recognition of Palestinian State
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| Israel will prohibit the Spanish Embassy from providing services to West Bank Palestinians, Israel’s foreign minister announced Friday, following Spain’s move toward recognition of a Palestinian state and remarks by the deputy prime minister considered antisemitic by foreign minister Israel Katz. “In response to Spain’s recognition of a Palestinian state and the antisemitic call by Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister to … ‘liberate Palestine from the river to the sea,’ I have decided to … prohibit the Spanish consulate in Jerusalem from providing services to Palestinians from the West Bank,” Katz wrote on Friday in a post on X. |
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Under U.S. pressure, Israel reverses crackdown against AP
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| Israeli communications minister Shlomo Karai said in a statement late on Tuesday that he ordered to “cancel the operation and return the equipment to the AP agency” because the Ministry of Defense “wishes to examine the matter of the broadcasts … regarding the risk to our forces.” Behind the scenes: U.S. officials spoke Tuesday with officials in the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, expressing concerns about the Israeli Ministry of Communications’ crackdown on the AP and asked Israel to reverse its decision, two sources with knowledge of the issue said. |
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Analysis | The revolt against Binyamin Netanyahu
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| For months generals and ministers in Israel have been warning from behind the scenes that the government of Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, lacks a coherent strategy for the war in Gaza and its aftermath. Now at last these bitter arguments are breaking into the open. Israel’s war cabinet and security establishment are drawing ever closer to an open revolt against Mr Netanyahu, and are clear they want a sharp change of direction or new government. |
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Opinion | I created the Leahy law. It should be applied to Israel.
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| Unlike for most countries, U.S. weapons, ammunition and other aid are provided to Israeli security forces in bulk rather than to specific units. The secretary of state is therefore required to regularly inform Israel of any security force unit ineligible for U.S. aid because of having committed a gross violation of human rights, and the Israeli government is obligated to comply with that prohibition. Since the Leahy law was passed, not a single Israeli security force unit has been deemed ineligible for U.S. aid, despite repeated, credible reports of gross violations of human rights and a pattern of failing to appropriately punish Israeli soldiers and police who violate the rights of Palestinians. |
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