J Street works to promote an open, honest and rigorous conversation about Israel. The opinions reflected in articles posted in the News Roundup do not necessarily reflect J Street’s positions, and their posting does not constitute an endorsement from J Street.
Pro-Israel Groups Wade Into Dem Primary Fights, Axios
“[AIPAC is] joining a handful of other pro-Israel groups also training their sights on these intra-party battles. Most notably is J Street, a political organization fighting for pro-Israel policies and candidates — but with a liberal viewpoint. Their PAC raised $7 million for congressional candidates in the 2020 cycle. So far, J Street is involved in House primaries in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Texas, Maryland and Michigan. Critics hit AIPAC’s United Democracy Project for backing over 100 Republican candidates this cycle who voted against certifying the 2020 election. That fuels griping that the group’s name is antithetical to the Republicans’ purpose with their vote…J Street’s vice president of communications, Logan Bayroff, called AIPAC’s 2022 investments a way “to try to defeat, silence and, in some cases, smear progressives.” “At J Street, we were created to help provide a political voice for the large majority of the American Jewish community that holds liberal democratic values and liberal views when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and foreign policy,” Bayroff added.”
Leaders Lay Wreaths to Commemorate Holocaust Victims After Sirens Bring Israel to Standstill, Haaretz
Israel came to a standstill at 10 A.M. Thursday as sirens wailed for two minutes to pay respects to the six million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis during World War II, kick-starting a day of commemoration events. Holocaust Remembrance Day is one of the most solemn on Israel’s calendar. Restaurants, cafes and entertainment venues shut down early on Wednesday evening, and radio and TV programming was dedicated almost exclusively to documentaries about the Holocaust, interviews with survivors and somber music.
Palestinians Attacked Near Settlement; 62-year-old Hospitalized With Head Injury, Haaretz
Three Palestinians were attacked near the West Bank village of Kisan on Tuesday, with one of them suffering an injury to his head. According to the victims, they were attacked by dozens of masked Israelis from the nearby settlement of Ma’ale Amos with stones, clubs and pepper spray.
Israel and Jordan To Meet After Ramadan To Discuss Jerusalem Tensions, Axios
Israeli and Jordanian officials are expected to meet after Ramadan to try to agree on steps that will help mitigate possible future tensions over the Temple Mount\Haram al-Sharif compound and prevent violence around the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Violent confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem this month threatened to spill over to the occupied West Bank and Gaza and led to a crisis between Israel and Jordan.
US Says Iran Deal Still Possible; Breakout Time Is ‘Few Weeks’, Al-Monitor
On Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the United States will seek “a mutual return as long as it remains in our interest,” adding that “complex questions” remain unsolved. Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that an Iranian nuclear weapons breakout is “down from about a year — which is what we knew it was during the deal — to just a few weeks or less.”
Blinken Says Israel Supports a US Return to UNESCO, The Times of Israel
Israel, which withdrew from the UN cultural agency UNESCO with the United States over bias in 2019, has no objections to a US return, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday. Questioned by lawmakers, Blinken called on Congress to give US President Joe Biden the power to waive a US law that requires an end to US funding to any international organization, such as UNESCO, that recognizes Palestine as a state.
Following The Journey of One Palestinian Seeking Medical Care In Gaza, NPR
NPR Jerusalem Correspondent Daniel Estrin follows the journey of Gazan Yousef Al-Kurd, who had chronic heart disease, as he tries to leave Gaza for surgery. Kurd waited for more than two months before he got Israeli permission to leave Gaza for a Palestinian hospital in the West Bank.