News Roundup for February 5, 2026
ICYMI: The Rabbis Taking on ICE, Word on the Street
Rabbis Sharon Kleinbaum and Tamar Magill-Grimm joined J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami and Chief Policy Officer Ilan Goldenberg for a powerful conversation about what’s unfolding in Minneapolis right now and what the situation demands of Jewish leaders.
AIPAC Targets a Former Ally in 2026’s First Fight Over the Future of Pro-Israel US Politics, Haaretz
“Dumping massive sums into competitive Democratic primaries to take down thoughtful pro-Israel Democrats who don’t want to give a blank check to Bibi Netanyahu is not the way to build durable bipartisan support for Israel in the United States,” said J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami.
How AIPAC Could Help Elect The Next Member Of The Squad, Huffington Post
“It feels like a case of mistaken identity. I cannot, for the life of me, understand the theory behind this,” Jeremy Ben-Ami told Huffington Post about AIPAC’s interference in New Jersey’s special election.
Netanyahu Faces a Reckoning in Gaza as Trump’s Triumph Exposes Israel’s Postwar Failure, Haaretz
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fears a mass return of exhausted, desperate Palestinians to Gaza – a development that would definitively prove that mass displacement plans have failed.”
Women Returning to Gaza Say Israeli Troops Bound and Interrogated Them After Rafah Crossing, AP
“Three women who entered Gaza on the first day of the reopening told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Israeli troops blindfolded and handcuffed them, then interrogated and threatened them, holding them for several hours and inflicting what they said was humiliating treatment until they were released.”
Mamdani Chooses a Liberal Jewish Leader to Run Antisemitism Office, New York Times
“But unlike Mr. Mamdani, Ms. Wisdom believes in Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state — part of a worldview that several people who know her describe as liberal Zionism.”
Netanyahu Moves to Pass Off Arab Crime Task Force From PM’s Office to Ben-Gvir, Haaretz
“According to a source familiar with the matter, Netanyahu does not want ‘the responsibility for the horrific number of murders in Arab society to stick to him.'”
A Death Knell for the American Jewish Dream of a Melting Pot — in the 1920s, and Today, The Forward
“Why is the United States doing this, once again? Because now, as before, our leaders don’t actually want America to Americanize. They want us to believe this country can’t survive taking in people who will both change and be changed by it,” writes Emily Tamkin.
