News Roundup for December 30, 2025
Coffee with The Contrarians, Word on the Street
J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami joined Jen Rubin on Coffee with The Contrarians for a final episode of 2025.
Trump Affirms Bond With Netanyahu and Says US Would Back New Iran Strikes, New York Times
“In terms of public appearances, Netanyahu got what he wanted: a full public embrace from President Trump to show off to Israeli voters,” J Street Chief Policy Officer Ilan Goldenberg said.
Trump, Top Aides Asked Netanyahu to Change Policy in Occupied West Bank, Axios
“This is the first time in his second term that Trump and his team have weighed in at length with Netanyahu about West Bank policy.”
Trump Warns Iran of Possible Strike, Urges Hamas to Disarm After Meeting Netanyahu, Reuters
“Speaking beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following a meeting at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump suggested Tehran may be working to restore its weapons programs after a massive U.S. strike in June.”
Israel Strips UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees of Diplomatic Immunity, New York Times
“U.N. agencies are typically entitled to diplomatic immunity — enshrined in an international convention which Israel ratified — as part of their role as neutral mediators.”
Hamas Says Its Longtime Spokesman Was Killed Following an Israeli Strike in August, AP
“Abu Obeida had been among the most recognizable figures of Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, since the group seized control of Gaza in 2007 from the rival Palestinian group Fatah.”
‘He Will Not Be Accepted, Dead or Alive’: The Fate of Palestinians Suspected of Helping Israel, AP
“The Guardian spoke to residents of Jericho’s Aqabat Jabr refugee camp, including Palestinian fighters who said Dawas had been among them before, they said, turning informant. The accounts offer a glimpse of how IDF units enter Palestinian towns and enlist or pressure locals – through threats or money – to sustain the intelligence machinery of the occupation.”
Trump’s Embrace of Netanyahu Is a Strategic Tactic That Offers Little Clarity on Postwar Gaza, Haaretz
Jonathan Lis writes, “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could not have imagined a more enthusiastic reception: at a prime-time press conference, U.S. President Donald Trump could not stop praising him. He said that Netanyahu is doing ‘phenomenal work’ and that their relations ‘could not be better,’ declaring with assurance that a pardon for his criminal trial is ‘on its way.'”
How Ancient Sparta Explains 2026, Washington Post
Ishaan Tharoor writes, “Even if Sparta’s autarky — its lack of a reliance on trade and economic ties to others — underlay its fierce reputation, that’s hardly a virtue in a globalized age, critics in Israel argued. Instead, they viewed it as a recipe for decline.”
