 |
|
I’m writing to share J Street’s statements and news updates.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government passed a two-year budget, clearing a major hurdle to its own survival. (Failure to pass the bill by the budget deadline at the end of the month would have automatically triggered the collapse of the government.) The process of passing the budget – which includes huge windfalls for the ultra-Orthodox Jewish sector and the settlement enterprise in the West Bank – was contentious. With the budget passed, Netanyahu’s governing coalition is on far more stable ground and, significantly, he has indicated that the government will turn its attention back to the paused judicial overhaul that has given rise to a massive protest movement and poses a grave danger to Israel’s democracy.
Closer to home, President Biden this week unveiled a landmark plan to combat antisemitism. It includes over 100 concrete recommendations including an annual assessment by the FBI and National Counter-Terrorism Center on antisemitic drivers of transnational extremism; establishing an antisemitism awareness campaign directed at K-12 and college students; and measures to increase the physical safety of synagogues and other Jewish community facilities. J Street has enthusiastically welcomed the plan, including its recognition that the proliferation of antisemitic attitudes, rhetoric and violence in the United States in recent years has been driven in large part by white nationalist political movements. We are also pleased to see that the strategy avoids exclusively codifying any one definition of antisemitism as the sole standard for use in enforcing domestic law and policy, recognizing that such an approach could do more harm than good.
I hope you’ll check out, or continue making use of, our regularly updated dossier on the Netanyahu government. As always, you can find our Congressional briefing book, background information on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, recordings of previous briefings and more at J Street’s Congressional Resource Page.
Feel free to reach out with any questions.
All the best,
Debra
—
Debra Shushan, PhD
Director of Policy, J Street
mobile: (757) 746-0366 | [email protected] | @DrShushan
|
This week on j street
|
|
|
| STATEMENT |
|
J STREET WELCOMES BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR COMBATING ANTISEMITISM
|
| Read more → |
|
|
|
|
|
| STATEMENT |
|
J STREET WELCOMES HOUSE LETTER SUPPORTING ISRAEL’S PRO-DEMOCRACY PROTESTERS
|
| Read more → |
|
|
|
|
|
| BLOG |
|
RESPONDING TO THE OUTLANDISH, OFFENSIVE CLAIMS IN MAHMOUD ABBAS’ NAKBA SPEECH
|
| Read more → |
|
|
|
|
|
What we’re reading
|
Netanyahu passes budget, steadies his rule and eyes judicial change again
|
 |
| Wednesday’s vote to approve a two-year national budget, a commonplace piece of parliamentary housekeeping that has become increasingly fraught in a divided nation, was a moment of peril for Netanyahu’s fragile partnership. Far-right and ultra-Orthodox factions threatened to withhold their votes unless the government poured more money into programs under their control, including millions for a parallel yeshiva school system that teaches religion while ignoring national standards for math and science. Failure to meet the budget deadline would have led to an automatic collapse of the government — a fate that befell a coalition in 2020 — and Netanyahu caved to the demands, hurriedly committing more than $130 million for religious programs and for projects supported by far-right settler leader Itamar Ben Gvir, the national security minister. Critics slammed the last-minute deals as evidence that Netanyahu remains beholden to his most extreme partners. They decried the “giveaway” to the growing ultra-Orthodox sector, which seeks more influence over religious and secular society. But with protesters shouting “Shame!” in the pre-dawn dark outside the Knesset on Wednesday, the financial package passed by a four-vote margin, granting the government a two-year window before the next budgetary battle… When asked shortly after the budget vote whether he expected the [judicial reforms] issue to return, Netanyahu said: “Of course. But we are trying to reach understandings [in negotiations]. I hope we will succeed in that.” Opponents of the courts overhaul said demonstrators would be back in the streets. |
| read more |
Biden Unveils a National Plan to Fight an Ancient Hatred
|
 |
| The Biden administration released the country’s first national strategy for combating antisemitism Thursday, calling on government, law enforcement and schools to crack down on discrimination and stanch the spread of online hate… The Biden administration’s strategy was developed in consultation with some 1,000 federal and local officials, faith leaders and civil society groups, and contains more than 100 recommendations for the federal government to take in the next year. The actions include workshops to counteract bias in hiring and the workplace, enhanced Holocaust education programs and an effort to eliminate barriers to reporting potential hate crimes. The strategy also sets a November deadline for the Pentagon to assess antisemitic and Islamophobic behavior in the military… The national strategy sidesteps a contentious debate over the definition of antisemitism, which some fear can be used to shield Israel from legitimate criticism. U.S. policy follows the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, which was widely adopted by Western governments after lobbying by Jewish groups, E.U. leaders and the alliance itself. But that definition has come under fire from scores of Israeli and Jewish scholars and human rights organizations, who say it wrongly casts criticism of Israel as antisemitic. Some of those groups encouraged the White House not to include the I.H.R.A. definition in the strategy. Instead, the Biden administration strategy recognizes the I.H.R.A. definition as the “most prominent,” while acknowledging the value of others, including one developed by the Nexus Task Force, created by the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. Both sides in the debate declared victory on Thursday. |
| read more |
U.S., France Issue Strong Rebuke of ‘Illegal’ West Bank Outpost, Ben-Gvir Temple Mount Visit
|
 |
| Both the U.S. State Department and France’s Foreign Ministry issued statements on Monday condemning the visit of Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the Temple Mount. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller stated that the U.S. is concerned by “the provocative visit […] and the accompanying inflammatory rhetoric.”Miller also condemned a recent order issued by Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fuchs, head of the Israel Defense Forces’ Central Command, allowing Israelis to access and stay in the illegal West Bank outpost of Homesh. Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Temple Mount on Sunday was also condemned by Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and the Palestinian Authority, who defined the act as a violation of the status quo. Jordan warned that the act could lead to a violent escalation in the region. In his statement, State Department spokesman Miller said: “This holy space should not be used for political purposes, and we call on all parties to respect its sanctity.” “We are deeply troubled by the Israeli government’s order that allows its citizens to establish a permanent presence in the Homesh outpost in the northern West Bank,” Miller said, adding that “Advancing Israeli settlements in the West Bank is an obstacle to the achievement of a two-state solution.” |
| read more |
Europeans Join U.S. Condemnation of Proposal Targeting Foreign Donations to Israeli NGOs
|
 |
| Several European countries have added their voices to American criticism of a proposal to restrict the ability of Israeli human rights organizations to accept donations from foreign governments. The proposal is scheduled to be discussed at Sunday’s meeting of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation. The proposal has drawn sharp criticism from the Biden administration, which has conveyed its strong opposition to the bill through various channels… According to the bill, which was introduced by Knesset Member Ariel Kallner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, if a nonprofit organization engages in public advocacy within two years before or after receiving a donation, it will not be considered a public institution eligible for tax exemptions. The bill defines public advocacy as actions such as appealing to or assisting government institutions (including the courts, the Knesset, its committees, members of the Knesset, the cabinet, ministers, government agencies, local authorities, or their employees) or utilizing paid advertising to promote a cause. Nonprofits falling under these criteria would face a tax rate of 65 percent on their income. A similar initiative sparked tensions in Israel-U.S. relations in early 2016. During the Obama administration, the U.S. State Department’s spokesperson deemed it a threat to democratic values. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also expressed her opposition to the legislation and, under combined pressure from both countries, Netanyahu ultimately scrapped the proposal from the agenda. |
| read more |
Senators Urge Biden Admin: Ensure Equal Treatment for All U.S. Citizens When Mulling Israel Visa Waiver
|
 |
| Sixteen U.S. senators on Wednesday urged the Biden administration to ensure that equal treatment of all U.S. citizens – regardless of ethnicity, national origin and religion – is upheld within the Visa Waiver Program, as it considers Israel’s candidacy to join the coveted program. The letter is the most significant Congressional missive to date expressing skepticism that Israel is currently eligible to enter the program. Acceptance of Israel into it would spare its citizens the time-consuming and expensive process of obtaining visas for U.S. visits, allow for 90-day visits for tourism or business and catalyze economic cooperation. The Biden administration, with outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides helming the matter, and successive Israeli coalitions have prioritized Israel’s entry to the program as a key bilateral initiative to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship. Under Nides’ stewardship, Israel reached several significant milestones in the process, including helping the refusal rate for tourist visa applications to fall to below the three percent benchmark set by the U.S. State Department, while the Knesset finalized legislation allowing Israel to share biometric data with the U.S. He has vowed that Israel will not be granted entry unless the condition of reciprocity, in which every U.S. citizen will be allowed to travel freely to and from Israel and the West Bank, is met. “As longtime supporters of the U.S.-Israel relationship, we support Israel’s candidacy to join the VWP once it meets all of the requirements established by law,” write the senators, led by Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Brian Schatz, to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. |
| read more |
After AP report, Iran’s nuclear chief says Tehran to cooperate with inspectors on ‘new activities’
|
 |
| The head of Iran’s nuclear program insisted Wednesday that his government would cooperate with international inspectors on any “new activities.” His statement followed an exclusive Associated Press report about Tehran’s new underground tunnel system near a nuclear enrichment facility. The AP outlined this week how deep inside a mountain, the new tunnels near the Natanz facility are likely beyond the range of a last-ditch U.S. weapon designed to destroy such sites. The report sparked wider conversation across the Middle East about the construction, with Israel’s national security adviser saying Tuesday the site would not be immune from attack even if its depth put it out of range of American airstrikes. Speaking to journalists Wednesday after a Cabinet meeting, Mohammad Eslami of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran sought to describe the interest in the site as a case of Israel feeling pressured. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is working under the IAEA safeguards, and whenever wants to start new activities, it will coordinate with the IAEA, and acts accordingly,” Eslami said, using an acronym for the International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA did not respond to questions from the AP about the construction at Natanz, about 225 kilometers (140 miles) south of Tehran. Natanz has been a point of international concern since its existence became known two decades ago… Iran says the new construction will replace an above-ground centrifuge manufacturing center at Natanz struck by an explosion and fire in July 2020. Tehran blamed the incident on Israel, long suspected of running sabotage campaigns against its program. |
| read more |
|
