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I’m writing to share a few key updates and J Street statements from the past week. I hope you find these helpful.
This week saw significant diplomatic and security developments related to the Gaza conflict and broader regional dynamics. The UN Security Council adopted a U.S.-backed resolution endorsing key elements of the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire and outlining a pathway toward Palestinian statehood—an important step in advancing the White House’s 20-point plan. In Washington, the White House hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for his first visit since 2018, with discussions focused on U.S.–Saudi security cooperation, economic ties, and the potential expansion of the Abraham Accords amid Saudi Arabia’s continued requirement of meaningful progress toward Palestinian statehood. Reporting also shed new light on a U.S.-run coordination hub shaping post-war planning for Gaza—covering aid, intelligence, and civil governance—while drawing criticism over the absence of formal Palestinian representation. In Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu publicly condemned rising settler violence in the West Bank and signaled plans to expand domestic arms production to reduce reliance on the United States. Additional reports highlighted a concerning surge in Palestinian deaths in Israeli custody; a recent Israeli strike killing 25 Palestinians in Gaza; and internal tensions within the governing coalition over Finance Minister Smotrich’s efforts to collapse the Palestinian Authority. As Israeli elections approach, analysts are assessing Netanyahu’s efforts to navigate competing pressures from Washington, Riyadh, and domestic political actors.
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 if you have any questions.
All the best,
Lily
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Lily Adelstein
She/Her
Deputy Director of Government Affairs, J Street
Cell: 202-699-2701
J Street’s Congressional Resource Page
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This week on j street
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J Street Welcomes UN Security Council Resolution on Gaza Ceasefire and Pathway To Palestinian Statehood
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SAUDI CROWN PRINCE MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN’S WHITE HOUSE VISIT
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| Expert Analysis |
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The Old Playbook for Talking About the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Is Dead
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What we’re reading
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Netanyahu breaks silence on burgeoning settler violence, vows ‘forceful action’
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| Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday blasted violence perpetrated by Jewish extremists in the West Bank, after a growing number of such incidents have drawn reproach in the past week from the IDF chief as well as from abroad. In his first public comments on the violence that has been marring the West Bank for months, Netanyahu told a weekly cabinet meeting that Israel “will take very forceful action against the riots against IDF soldiers — against Palestinians, and against IDF soldiers — because we are a nation of laws, and a nation of laws acts in accordance with the law.” Netanyahu called the extremists “a minority that goes into Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] and does not represent the large community of law-abiding, loyal settlers.” |
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MBS tells Trump he wants to join Abraham Accords subject to path for Palestinian state
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| While Trump and his advisers acknowledge the gaps between the Saudis and the Israelis are still wide, the White House told the Saudis it wanted to see some progress on this issue during the Trump-MBS meeting, U.S. officials said… Trump told reporters during Tuesday’s meeting that he’d raised the issue of Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords with the crown prince. “I think I got a positive response,” Trump said. MBS was more nuanced. “We want to be part of the Abraham Accords, but we want also to be sure that we secure a clear path to a two-state solution,” he said. “We had a healthy discussion with Mr. President that we’re going to work on that to be sure that we can prepare the right situation as soon as possible.” |
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In Major Breakthrough, U.N. Security Council Adopts U.S. Peace Plan for Gaza
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| The United Nations Security Council on Monday approved President Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, a breakthrough that provides a legal U.N. mandate for the administration’s vision of how to move past the cease-fire and rebuild the war-ravaged Gaza Strip after two years of war. The Council’s vote was also a major diplomatic victory for the Trump administration. For the past two years, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas has raged, the United States had been isolated at the United Nations over its staunch support for Israel. The U.S. resolution calls for an International Stabilization Force to enter, demilitarize and govern Gaza. The proposal, which contained Mr. Trump’s 20-point cease-fire plan, also envisions a “Board of Peace” to oversee the peace plan, though it does not clarify the composition of the board. |
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Inside the American-Run Base Helping Plan the Future of Gaza
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| In a grungy industrial park in southern Israel, a massive, repurposed cargo warehouse is humming with hundreds of American and Israeli troops, Arab intelligence officers, international aid workers, and diplomats and military personnel from across Europe and as far away as Singapore. Their official mission is to help monitor the fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. But they have also been tasked with helping to craft ambitious plans for the enclave’s postwar future in line with President Trump’s 20-point peace proposal — disarming Hamas and rebuilding Gaza under a new, independent Palestinian administration. On Monday, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution endorsing Mr. Trump’s peace plan, and it also called for an International Stabilization Force to enter, demilitarize and govern Gaza. Some U.S. military officials at the facility are working on operational plans for that force. |
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PM: Israel aims to build independent arms production to reduce reliance on US
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| Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is working on an initiative to develop Israel’s independent munitions production with minimal dependence on the US — Israel’s primary defense partner and arms supplier — in the coming decade. “I’m currently holding discussions — including a very serious four-hour meeting yesterday — on our armament plans for the coming decade, and there are several components involved,” Netanyahu says in an interview aired this evening with the Abu Ali Express channel on Telegram. “The most important thing is that we want to strengthen our independent capabilities… the central point is that I want to eliminate, or at least significantly reduce, our dependence on external supplies — even from very good and truly loyal friends like the United States. I want us to be as self-reliant as possible,” the premier continues. |
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PM shelved plan to strip Smotrich of control over PA banking after far-right minister threatened to resign
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| Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shelved a plan to prevent Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from trying to collapse the Palestinian Authority after the far-right minister threatened to resign and collapse the government, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel. Netanyahu was planning to present a cabinet decision this evening that would have transferred some of Smotrich’s authorities to another minister. Smotrich is refusing to sign a waiver granting indemnity for Israeli banks to correspond with Palestinian ones. Failure to sign a waiver by the end of the month risks collapsing the Palestinian banking system, which operates on Israeli shekels. The Trump administration has been pressuring Israel to sign the waiver, fearing that the financial crisis could lead to the PA’s collapse and major instability in the West Bank. |
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Israeli airstrikes kill 25 Palestinians in Gaza, rattling ceasefire, medics say
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| At least 25 Palestinians were killed in four Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday in a part of Gaza under Hamas control since a shaky ceasefire took effect in October, health authorities said. The Israeli military said its forces struck Hamas targets across Gaza after members of the Palestinian militant group fired on its troops in violation of the nearly six-week-old ceasefire. No Israeli forces were injured. Hamas condemned the Israeli strikes as a dangerous escalation, and urged the United States to “honor its stated commitments and exert immediate pressure on Israel to enforce the ceasefire and halt its attacks.” But a U.S. official, who spoke anonymously, said Hamas was aiming to break the ceasefire and not fulfill its commitment to demilitarize. “These desperate tactics will fail,” the official said. |
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Palestinian deaths in Israeli custody have surged. A prison guard describes rampant abuse
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| The number of Palestinians dying in Israeli custody surged to nearly 100 people since the start of the war in Gaza, according to a report published Monday by a human rights group that says systematic violence and denial of medical care at prisons and detention centers contributed to many of the deaths it examined… The former guard at a military prison notorious for its harsh treatment of Palestinians told the AP detainees were routinely shackled with chains and kicked and hit with batons, and that the facility had been dubbed a “graveyard” because so many prisoners were dying there. He agreed to talk to AP to raise awareness of violence in Israeli prisons and spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal. |
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Analysis | As elections loom, can Netanyahu balance Trump, Mohammed bin Salman, and his political future?
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| “Netanyahu’s preferred path to survive a treacherous election will be to show Israeli voters that he is advancing Israel’s regional integration and staying within Trump’s embrace, without appearing to walk back his opposition to Palestinian statehood. This delicate balance, however, will make meaningful progress on Trump’s regional agenda extremely challenging. Trump may conclude that the best opportunities for major breakthroughs in regional integration will come when a new Israeli government takes office in 2027—not during the election year of 2026.” |
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