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.
J Street Overjoyed by Hostage Rescue, Stresses Need for Ceasefire and Hostage Deal, J Street
The J Street community is overjoyed by the news that hostage Qaid Farhan al-Qadi, from the Arab Bedouin city of Rahat in southern Israel, is reuniting with family members following his rescue from Gaza. A father and husband has been returned to the arms of his family after more than 300 days of utter anguish. The news comes after an incredibly difficult week, in which dozens more Palestinian civilians were killed, the bodies of six Israeli hostages were recovered, and the situation on Israel’s northern border intensified – putting millions of Israeli, Palestinian and Lebanese civilians at risk.
Biden: Call It As You See It, J Street
J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami writes, “As we approach another make-or-break moment in the negotiations, President Biden must make it clear that – if the negotiations fail thanks to the recalcitrance of Prime Minister Netanyahu – he won’t hesitate to publicly assign blame where it belongs for the failure to reach a deal.”
At an Israeli Hospital, the Rescued Hostage Tells His Family About His Ordeal, The New York Times
“He spoke about the darkness, not being able to see,” said Fayez al-Sana, a cousin who spoke with Mr. al-Qadi as he was recovering at Soroka Medical Center, in southern Israel. “But, thank God, he’s back with us, alive — it made us all rejoice.” Mr. al-Qadi had lost a lot of weight but had “a strong personality” that kept him afloat in captivity, Mr. al-Sana said. “He has a lot of resilience, and his faith in God was strong — those two things helped him carry it all,” he said.
Negotiations So Far More Effective Than Rescues in Bringing Israeli Hostages Home From Gaza, AP
While the rescue Tuesday set off celebrations, it also renewed calls from the families of hostages who are still being held in Gaza for a deal that would bring home their loved ones before it’s too late. They say an agreement, not military rescues, is the best hope. “After 10 months, the IDF managed just to release a small number of hostages from Hamas and the rest of them must be released by negotiations and by ending this war,” said Mazen Abu Siam, a close friend of Qaid Farhan Alkadi, the hostage who was freed Tuesday.
At Least Nine Palestinians Killed as Israel Mounts Major West Bank Operation, Reuters
The Palestinian health ministry said troops had surrounded Jenin’s main hospital, blocking off access with earth mounds – a measure the military said was intended to stop fighters seeking refuge. A military spokesperson said Wednesday’s operation followed a sharp rise in militant activity in recent months, with more than 150 attacks involving shooting or explosives from Tulkarm and Jenin in the past year.
The War That Won’t End [Podcast], The Daily
It’s been nearly a year since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks in Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. Patrick Kingsley, the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times, explains why the war is still going, and what it would take to end it.
US Hopeful That Likelihood of Wider Conflict Breaking out Between Israel and Hezbollah Has Reduced, Officials Say, CNN
The US assesses that Hezbollah, the most powerful, capable and independent of Iran’s proxies across the region, does not want a full-scale war with Israel now, according to current and former US officials, even as it has engaged in a long-running series of relatively contained fire across the border.
Israeli Hostage Escaped Gaza Captors, Returned to Israel by IDF, Haaretz
He was found alone in the tunnel, and the soldiers did not come across Elkadi’s captors or other terrorists, and no other hostages were found in the tunnel where he was being held.
US Official Hints Further Sanctions in Pipeline as Israel Fails to Check Settler Violence, The Times of Israel
“What really needs to happen here is sound leadership decisions there in Israel to stop this violence,” said White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby. “I can’t rule out sanctions in the future.”
A 10-Month-Old Palestinian Baby Suddenly Stopped Crawling. Polio Had Struck Gaza, AP
Abdel-Rahman was an energetic baby, said the child’s mother, Nevine Abu El-Jedian, fighting back tears. “Suddenly, that was reversed. Suddenly, he stopped crawling, stopped moving, stopped standing up, and stopped sitting.”
Far-Right Israeli Minister Draws Anger for Comments on Disputed Holy Site, The New York Times
Israel’s far-right national security minister has drawn outrage for agreeing that he would like to build a synagogue at a disputed holy site in Jerusalem that has long been a flashpoint between Jews and Muslims.
White House’s Kirby Says US Would Defend Israel in Iranian Attack, Reuters
The U.S. maintains two aircraft-carrier strike groups in the Middle East, as well as an extra squadron of F-22 fighter jets. Kirby said the force will remain “as long as we feel like we need to keep it in place to help defend Israel and defend our own troops and facilities in the region.”
Israeli Settlers Are Seizing Palestinian Land Under Cover of War – They Hope Permanently, BBC
Yolande Knell and Toby Luckhurst report, “Last week, Israel’s domestic intelligence chief Ronen Bar wrote to ministers warning that Jewish extremists in the West Bank were carrying out acts of ‘terror’ against Palestinians and causing ‘indescribable damage’ to the country. Since the start of the war in Gaza, there has been an acceleration in settlement growth in the occupied West Bank. Extremists in Israel’s government boast that these changes will prevent an independent Palestinian state from ever being created. There are fears, too, that they seek to prolong the war in Gaza to suit their goals.”
Hostage’s Rescue Shines a Spotlight on Israel’s Bedouins, The New York Times
Adam Rasgon shares, “During the [October 7] attack, at least 17 Bedouin were killed, including by Hamas rocket fire, and eight others were abducted. But little attention has been focused on their plight — a reflection of their peripheral status in Israel. Tens of thousands of Bedouin live in unrecognized villages in the Negev desert, an upended triangle of arid land that borders Gaza and extends through southern Israel. The villages have long suffered from a lack of basic services, including running water and electricity. When Hamas fires rockets into southern Israel, Jewish communities largely can take cover in nearby bomb shelters, while dozens of these villages lack them.”
Exclusive Interview: Former PM Ehud Olmert on the Existential Threat Facing Israel – From Within, The Jewish News of Northern California
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert shares, “We have to find a way to live in peace with those people, to let them exercise their right for self-determination and establish their own independent state alongside the State of Israel — and not fight them and not persecute them and not lynch them, as some of those hilltop youth are doing almost on a daily basis. Of course we have to fight against our outside enemies. But the danger that comes from within is a danger that we have to cope with forcefully, without hesitation, to bring Israel back into the basic values and fundamental principles upon which the State of Israel was established.”
Netanyahu Is Dragging the US Down a Dangerous Path on Iran, The Hill
Ami Ayalon, Gilead Sher and Orni Petruschka write, “The U.S. should assist Israel in its quest to thwart Iran’s hegemonic, anti-Israel ambitions, but it should do so in a way that enhances regional stability. The U.S. must not succumb to Netanyahu’s pressure seeking to sabotage movement toward a sounder and stronger Middle East, motivated by his personal interests and those of his right-wing coalition partners. That is the opposite of the visionary statesmanship needed now.”
Antisemitism on Campus: Understanding Hostility to Jews and Israel, Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies – Brandeis University
In a study by Brandeis University, key findings found, “Efforts to address antisemitism on campus need to be more carefully targeted. A one-size-fits-all solution to the general problem of antisemitism on campus is unlikely to be effective. Because students who are likely contributing to Jewish students’ perceptions of hostility do not share the same views on these topics (or the same underlying motivations), they may require more than one type of intervention.”
Is a New Palestinian Movement Being Born?, The Atlantic
Arash Azizi writes, “Uncommitted showed remarkable message discipline and highlighted a set of demands that, unlike many of those aired in pro-Palestinian demonstrations of the past few months, could have been shared by many Zionists and Israelis. When the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli American hostage being held in Gaza, addressed the convention, Uncommitted delegates praised their speech even as they demanded to be heard. ‘They deserve a spot on this stage,’ one Uncommitted delegate told The Jerusalem Post. ‘But a Palestinian American also deserves a spot on that stage.’”