Half the Story: What US Leaders Miss on Their Trips to Israel, Substack
J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami writes, “Those who travel to the region – especially elected officials – have a responsibility to confront the full reality of what is happening in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem. Anything less isn’t meaningful education, it’s tourism with a security briefing. If U.S. policymakers keep returning from these trips unwilling to challenge settlement expansion, settler violence, and extremist provocation, then our government will remain complicit in entrenching this conflict.”
Israeli Strike Kills 4 Al Jazeera Journalists, Network Says, The New York Times
“An Israeli strike near a hospital in Gaza City on Sunday night killed four Al Jazeera journalists, the network said, and Gazan health officials reported at least one additional fatality. The Israeli military confirmed that it had conducted a strike targeting one of the men killed, whom it accused of being a Hamas fighter posing as a reporter, an allegation that he and the network had rejected.”
Australia Will Recognize a Palestinian State, Prime Minister Albanese Says, AP
“Australia will recognize a Palestinian state, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday, joining the leaders of France, Britain and Canada in signaling they would do so.”
Hostage Families Call for Nationwide Strike as Israel Prepares to Escalate War, CNN
“Families of Israeli hostages kept captive in Gaza are calling for a nationwide general strike next Sunday, in protest of the Israeli security cabinet’s recent decision to expand the war and take over Gaza City. ‘We are shutting down the country to save the soldiers and the hostages,’ said the relatives of the hostages in Tel Aviv. They were joined by the October 7 Council, which represents bereaved families of soldiers who fell at the start of the war.”
‘Jews, Rebel!’: Ex-Knesset Speaker Calls on World Jews to Take Israel to ICJ Over Gaza War Crimes, Haaretz
“Avraham ‘Avrum’ Burg, a former speaker of the Israeli Knesset, called on Friday for one million Jews worldwide to join a collective legal complaint at the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of crimes against humanity in Gaza.”
Netanyahu Defends Israel’s Plan to Seize Gaza City, Despite Global Condemnation, NPR
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that his plan to seize control of Gaza City and the remaining sliver of Gaza not already under Israeli control will involve displacing the population and taking control of the entire Gaza Strip. His comments in a press conference in Jerusalem come despite tens of thousands of Israelis protesting the plan, which was approved by Israel’s Security Cabinet early Friday. The plan will require calling up large numbers of reservists, many of whom have already done previous rounds in the war.”
Days After Pledging a New Attack in Gaza, Israel’s Plan Is Still Unclear, The New York Times
“While there have been vague proclamations by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s military has yet to complete the tactical battle plan. There has been no public confirmation of how long any occupation of the city will last — or when it will begin, and how it will differ from Israel’s capture of Gaza City in the opening months of the war in 2023.”
What You Need to Know: July 2025 United Nations Conference on Two-State Solution, J Street Policy Center
J Street Policy and Research Coordinator Avraham Spraragen writes, “This declaration is unprecedented in that the entire Arab League condemned October 7 while ruling out Hamas rule of the Gaza Strip on the day after the war. It also includes virtually all of Israel’s conditions for a two-state solution, including a demilitarized Palestinian state, while promising Israel full regional integration in return. The Israeli vision of transforming the region together with Arab world acceptance of Israel is clearly laid out by this historic declaration.”
Netanyahu Is Causing Israel to Lose the US, Including Members of the Jewish Community, The Jerusalem Post
J Street Israel Executive Director Nadav Tamir writes, “Today, as the Netanyahu government pushes Israel toward international isolation and moral pariah status, Jews around the world find themselves caught in the crossfire. While Israelis can return home, Diaspora Jews are left navigating rising antisemitism alongside growing frustration and estrangement from a state that was meant to represent them.”
Israeli Settlers Intensify Campaign to Drive Out West Bank Palestinians, BBC
Jeremy Bowen writes, “I have been watching the settlements grow for about half of the lifetime of the project, since I first reported from the occupied Palestinian territories in 1991. In that time, the terrain of much of the West Bank has been transformed. The bigger settlements look like small towns, and the West Bank is carved into sections by a network of roads and tunnels built by Israel that are as much about staking an immovable claim to the land as they are about traffic management.”