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| I’m writing to share J Street’s statements and news updates.
Topping the news this week, the US has expressed alarm over the spike in killings of Israeli and Palestinian civilians, including the killing of three Israelis in the West Bank. Other significant news includes the FBI opening an investigation into the killing of renowned Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was fatally shot while reporting from the occupied West Bank. Israel’s Prime Minister and Defense Minister have stated that they will not cooperate with the investigation into the killing. (You will find J Street’s statement welcoming the investigation and urging Israel to cooperate with it at the top of the News Digest.) Israeli government coalition negotiations continue, with Israel’s far-right making a play for control of the Defense Ministry and “legalization” of dozens of illegal settlement outposts and other measures tantamount to de facto annexation of occupied Palestinian territory.
Please be sure to have a look at J Street Policy Center’s new issue brief: “Expulsion by Other Means: Israel’s Campaign Against Palestinians in Masafer Yatta.” As you may recall, Israel’s High Court in May upheld a longstanding expulsion order and gave the green light to Israeli authorities to evict over 1,000 Palestinian residents from eight villages in Masafer Yatta because Israel had designated that area part of a firing zone in the 1980s. In May, 83 Members of Congress signed a bicameral letter led by Senator Merkley and Congresswoman Stansbury that called on President Biden to “immediately engage with the Israeli government” to prevent evictions and military training exercises in Masafer Yatta. While Israel has not conducted a mass forced displacement, Israeli authorities are conducting what amounts to an intense pressure campaign against Palestinian villagers. Our new issue brief sheds light on the measures implemented since May, which are so far-reaching that in the six months since the court ruling, Haaretz has reported that “life in the area has changed beyond recognition.”
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.
Let me know if you have any questions or would like further information.
All the best,
Debra
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Debra Shushan, PhD
Director of Policy, J Street
mobile: (757) 746-0366 | [email protected] | @DrShushan |
This week on j street
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| STATEMENT |
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J STREET WELCOMES FBI INVESTIGATION INTO KILLING OF SHIREEN ABU AKLEH
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| STATEMENT |
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J STREET CONDEMNS TERROR ATTACK AGAINST ISRAELIS IN OCCUPIED WEST BANK
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| J STREET ISSUE BRIEF |
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EXPULSION BY OTHER MEANS: ISRAEL’S CAMPAIGN
AGAINST PALESTINIANS IN MASAFER YATTA
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What we’re reading
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US expresses alarm over Israeli, Palestinian civilians killed in West Bank
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| The US State Department on Tuesday expressed alarm over the spike in killings of Israeli and Palestinian civilians and urged the parties to take action to restore calm. “The United States is deeply concerned by the increased violence in the West Bank,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said. “We convey profound condolences to the families and loved ones of the Israeli and Palestinian civilians, including children, who have been killed in the past 48 hours,” Price said in a relatively rare statement that was released independently from the day’s press briefing hours earlier. |
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U.S. Investigating Killing of Al Jazeera Journalist in West Bank, Israel Says
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| The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian American journalist, in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli Defense Ministry announced on Monday night. Israel’s defense minister, Benny Gantz, confirmed that a U.S. inquiry had begun and said that Israel would not participate, reducing the likelihood that a court case would result. Several investigations have concluded that Ms. Abu Akleh, who was shot in the head on May 11, was probably killed by an Israeli soldier. “The decision of the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the unfortunate death of Shireen Abu Akleh is a grave mistake,” Mr. Gantz wrote in a statement in Hebrew. The statement added, “We will not cooperate with any external investigation, and we will not allow interference in Israel’s internal affairs.” |
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As Netanyahu Nears Power, the Far Right Wants to Oversee the Army
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| As Benjamin Netanyahu attempts to form a new government in Israel, one likely member of his cabinet has drawn particular concern in Washington and in Israeli security circles: Bezalel Smotrich. Mr. Smotrich wants to be defense minister, the second-most-powerful position in government, and one that would give him oversight over the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and airstrikes on Gaza. It would also make him a central point of contact between Israel and the United States, which provides the country with more than $3 billion in military aid each year. Like Mr. Ben-Gvir, Mr. Smotrich wants Israel to annex the occupied West Bank, ending any hope of a Palestinian state. But both his critics and allies feel Mr. Smotrich has a clearer idea about how to make that happen. |
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Netanyahu agrees to Ben Gvir demand to legalize dozens of outposts, Homesh yeshiva
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| Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu and Otzma Yehudit head Itamar Ben Gvir agreed Wednesday to a series of legislative initiatives that the extremist lawmaker has been pushing for, Netanyahu’s Likud party said, as coalition talks appeared stuck with two of his other allies. Those bills include retroactively legalizing dozens of illegal West Bank outposts, sometimes known as “young settlements,” within 60 days of the government being sworn in, changing the 2005 Disengagement Law in a way that would allow the legalization of the controversial Homesh outpost and yeshiva in the West Bank, and a minimum sentence for agricultural crimes. |
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Opinion: Accountability is justified — and needed — in a U.S. reporter’s death
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| The Washington Post Editorial Board argues, “Abu Akleh was a U.S. citizen, a respected professional and a prominent media voice in Middle East affairs. Americans deserve a full accounting of her death; the Justice Department’s reported probe is a step in that direction. It is unacceptable that one of Washington’s closest allies would obstruct that entirely reasonable objective.” |
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