‘Damaging, Arbitrary and Nonsensical:’ J Street Slams Trump’s Global Tariffs, J Street
J Street Senior Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Ilan Goldenberg writes: “The 17% tariff on Israel is higher than the rate imposed on several other close allies and will have an outsized impact on Israeli workers and businesses. The US is Israel’s largest trading partner, and these tariffs come at a time when Israeli workers and businesses are still struggling following the October 7 attacks and the ensuing war.”
J Street Statement on the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval, J Street
“With regard to one of the sales in question under the resolutions considered by the Senate today, J Street opposes the Trump administration’s circumvention of Congressional review to make an emergency sale of almost 40,000 2,000-pound bombs to the Netanyahu government given the recent history of their use in dense urban environments and the catastrophic civilian toll they have taken in Gaza over the past 18 months.”
The Reality of Resuming the War in Gaza, J Street
J Street Policy Fellow and former US Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations Frank Lowenstein writes: “the reported new military campaign risks increasing the incalculable suffering for civilians in Gaza and the hostages and their families, while leaving the IDF bogged down in an endless war with no realistic objectives beyond ensuring Gaza remains ungoverned and unlivable. So what is the alternative? The ‘Day After’ plan Biden proposed, in close consultation with leading Arab allies, called for the creation of an interim administrative government, comprised of technocrats with no affiliation to Hamas, formed with input from Gazans under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority.”
The Way Forward in Syria, J Street
J Street Policy Center Contributing Expert Jennifer Gavito and Policy Coordinator Avraham Spraragen write: “Syria’s new transitional government, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, marks a historic shift away from Assad-era authoritarianism and Iranian influence, signaling a strategic opportunity for regional stabilization and renewed international engagement. Despite lingering concerns over al-Sharaa’s Islamist past, U.S. and Israeli interests would be best served by supporting the government’s efforts to rebuild state institutions, combat ISIS, and integrate marginalized factions into a unified, sovereign Syria.”
15 Senate Dems Vote to Cancel Billions in Israeli Military Aid, Axios
“Fifteen Senate Democrats backed a pair of resolutions from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to withhold billions of dollars in offensive weapons sales and other military aid to Israel. The votes split the party, revealing continued internal divisions over Democrats’ views on the war in Gaza and support for the Israeli government. The measures failed 15-82 and 15-83. Sanders wants to cancel the Trump administration’s proposed sales of $8.8 billion in bombs and other munitions to Israel.”
Israel Kills a Hamas commander in Lebanon, Further Testing Ceasefire, Reuters
“The Israeli military said on Friday it had killed Hassan Farhat, a commander of Palestinian militant group Hamas, in the Sidon region of southern Lebanon. The Lebanese Health Ministry said three people were killed in an Israeli strike on an apartment in Sidon. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s office said the attack was a clear violation of a U.S.-backed ceasefire which ended last year’s war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.”
Israeli Military Orders New Evacuation of Gaza City Neighborhoods, The New York Times
“The Israeli military has called on residents to evacuate several neighborhoods in Gaza City, the latest in a series of orders that have forced Palestinians to flee as Israel again escalates its offensive against Hamas in the war-battered Gaza Strip. The new evacuation order late Thursday came not long after the Palestinian health authorities said dozens of people, including children, were killed in Israeli strikes on a school turned shelter in Gaza City. Israel said it was looking into the episode.”
Netanyahu Could Visit the U.S. Soon, Trump Says As Dozens Killed by Strike on School in Gaza, NBC News
“Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could visit the United States as early as next week, President Donald Trump said Thursday as dozens of people were killed in a strike on school in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials. ‘We’ll speak about Israel, and we’ll speak about what’s going on,’ Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. ‘That’s another thing we’d like to get solved,’ he said, although he did not provide further details about the Israeli leader’s trip.”
IDF Soldiers Vandalize Property in West Bank Refugee Camp, Settlers Set Israeli Police Car on Fire, Haaretz
“Reserve soldiers vandalized property and left destruction in houses in the Dheisheh refugee camp in the West Bank on Wednesday. Video clips on social media showed the soldiers overturning furniture and beds, emptying closets, and spraying graffiti inside homes over pictures of Mecca and of Yasser Arafat. They also sprayed the Israeli flag and Arabic inscriptions on houses’ walls. No steps have been taken against any of those involved.”
Yale Sacks Legal Scholar Amid Probe Into Ties to Palestinian Terror Fundraiser, Times of Israel
“Yale Law School has fired an Iranian scholar, accusing her of refusing to cooperate as it probed allegations that she is involved with a group that the US calls a ‘sham charity’ for a designated terrorist organization. But Helyeh Doutaghi, an outspoken critic of Israel who worked at Yale on a visa as an associate research scholar and deputy director of the school’s Law and Political Economy Project, denies being uncooperative. She claims she was fired because of her criticism of the war in Gaza, as colleges around the country face financial pressure to crack down on antisemitism from the Trump administration.”
Trump’s Fight Against Antisemitism Has Become Fraught for Many Jews, The New York Times
J Street Rabbinic Cabinet member Rabbi Sharon Brous writes: “’This is not going to protect Jews,’ Rabbi Brous said in an interview. ‘We’re being used.’ Across the country, American Jews have watched with alarm or enthusiasm as an effort to address campus unrest over the war in Gaza has transformed into a campaign to deny elite universities billions of dollars in funding, to press major law firms into pro bono work on ‘antisemitism’ and to deport foreign students even tangentially involved in the protests last spring.”
The Irony of the Exploitation of Jewish Fear, The Seattle Times
J Street Rabbinic Cabinet member Rabbi Daniel Weiner writes: “But the bitterest irony is the way this assault on civil rights has been justified in the name of fighting antisemitism. Jewish fear is being exploited and leveraged to undermine the Constitution and the rule of law. And too many Jews are willing to sacrifice systematic freedoms for a fleeting sense of momentary comfort.”
The Escape Artist: How Netanyahu Lies and Why People Still Believe Him, Haaretz
Dahlia Scheindlin writes: “Netanyahu insists that Israel’s enemies want the government to collapse, when in fact it’s the majority of his citizens who want new elections immediately or after the war. But Netanyahu is sure that the stability of this government, which three-quarters of Israelis do not trust, in the recent INSS survey, is a wonderful thing. This is just a selection.”