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.
The Rise and Fall of Jamaal Bowman [Audio], Identity/Crisis
The Democratic congressional primary in New York’s 16th District was one of the most closely watched this year and ended with Representative Jamaal Bowman losing to George Latimer. Yehuda Kurtzer and J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami discuss Bowman’s visit to Israel with J Street and the shift in Bowman’s politics and strategy during his time in office.
Israelis and Palestinians Standing Together for Change [Video], J Street
As too many in the region retreat to the dark corners of dehumanization, Standing Together has chosen the path of empathy, coexistence and justice for all, Israeli and Palestinian. J Street Chief of Staff Adina Vogel Ayalon was joined by Rula Daood and Alon-Lee Green, Standing Together co-directors, for a conversation on their movement’s recent work, the challenges they’re facing, and the future of the peace camp.
Hamas Says Israel’s Deadly Strike on a Gaza School Could Put Cease-Fire Talks Back to “Square One”, CBS
Hamas said the new assault could “reset the negotiation process to square one,” despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreeing to send a delegation to restart the talks. Netanyahu agreed to send the Israeli delegation back to the talks after Hamas replied to the latest draft cease-fire proposal with some requested changes, but both sides have remained at odds on key points of a staged truce process. One of the biggest obstacles has been Netanyahu’s insistence that any cease-fire agreement leaves his military the option to resume operations against Hamas.
Counting the Dead in Gaza: Difficult but Essential, The Lancet
Rasha Khatib, Martin McKee, and Salim Yusuf report, “In recent conflicts, such indirect deaths range from three to 15 times the number of direct deaths. Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza. Using the 2022 Gaza Strip population estimate of 2,375,259, this would translate to 7.9% of the total population in the Gaza Strip.”
Two Israelis Killed in Hezbollah Retaliatory Attack on Golan, Police Say, Reuters
One rocket hit a car in the Golan that instantly killed a man and woman, police said. Israel’s ambulance service had initially said in a statement that paramedics had reported two casualties “in critical condition” after red-alert sirens went off in the Israeli-occupied Golan.
Hospitals Stop Functioning as Israeli Forces Pound Gaza City, The Washington Post
The resumed military offensive, which forced tens of thousands to flee, has sown chaos among sick and injured Palestinians, as the city’s remaining medical facilities have been caught up in Israeli-ordered evacuation zones while others struggle to get fuel and medical supplies.
US-Built Aid Pier in Gaza Will Reopen for a Few Days, Then Be Removed Permanently, AP
It would deal the final blow to a project long plagued by bad weather, security uncertainties and difficulties getting food into the hands of starving Palestinians.
Deport ‘Pro-Hamas’ Students, Build a US Iron Dome: GOP Releases 2024 Party Platform in Trump’s Image, Haaretz
The 20 bullet points that make up the policy document reveal how much the Republicans have adapted to Trump. A focus on “anti-Christian bias,” a revival of the Muslim travel ban and making campuses “patriotic again” are just some stated goals, alongside “standing with Israel.”
Defense Minister Says IDF Will Start Drafting Ultra-Orthodox Men Next Month, The Times of Israel
The statement added that Gallant and Halevi said in the meeting that drafting ultra-Orthodox men to the army is an “operational necessity and a complex social issue” that requires allowing soldiers to “maintain their lifestyle.”
UK Considers Withdrawing Reservations Against ICC Warrants for Israel’s Netanyahu and Gallant, Haaretz
Foreign Secretary Lammy has not mentioned the subject, but, after taking up the post, said that the new government would seek a “balanced position” on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, and called for an immediate cease-fire that would include the release of the Israeli hostages.
Kamala Harris: Campus Protesters on Gaza War ‘Showing What Human Emotion Should Be’, The Times of Israel
“There are things some of the protesters are saying that I absolutely reject, so I don’t mean to wholesale endorse their points. But we have to navigate it. I understand the emotion behind it,” Harris said in an interview.
Israeli Army Calls on All Residents of Gaza City to Evacuate South to Deir al-Balah, Haaretz
“Then, we had somewhere to flee, mostly to the center of the Gaza Strip and also to the south, and people could find shelter in all kinds of places, including in schools and public buildings in the city,” a Gaza City resident told Haaretz. “But now, everything is destroyed from the north to the south, and if there is still someplace that is relatively quiet, it is completely packed with people in tents like sardines.”
White House: Iran Is Funding, Emboldening Anti-Israel Protests in US to Sow Discord, The Times of Israel
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said actors tied to Iran’s government had posed as activists online, sought to encourage protests regarding the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and even provided demonstrators with financial support. The statements are likely to embolden those calling for American authorities to take a harder line on the Gaza war protests that swept across college campuses.
Israel’s Top Officer in the West Bank Knows the Settlers Best. Listen to His Warning of Imminent Disaster, Haaretz
The Haaretz Editorial Board shares, “The outgoing head of the army’s Central Command, Yehuda Fuchs, gave his farewell speech at the Central Command headquarters in Jerusalem, at a ceremony in which he handed over the reins to his successor. But the real audience for the accurate remarks in his speech, at the end of a three-year term full of tension, was the general public. His message was meant for the ears of Israelis, because they must hear the truth about the danger that is running riot through the West Bank under the protection of a cowardly leadership.”
Why Don’t Ceasefire Talks Ever Go Anywhere? Ask Netanyahu, The Forward
Dan Perry writes, “The reason for this cycle is depressingly simple and cynical: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to end the war in exchange for the hostages, because he expects that if he does, his coalition will collapse, since the ultranationalist flank on which it depends wants the war to go on. And Hamas, in turn, refuses to bend, because its leaders have correctly noticed that the war is terrible for Israel — an outcome that nicely aligns with its goal of eradicating the Jewish state. (The war is much more terrible for the people of Gaza, a fact that bothers Hamas not at all.)”
How Israel Tried to Use AI to Covertly Sway Americans About Gaza, NPR
Huo Jingnan reports, “For the past several months, multiple organizations have noticed possible Israeli government-sponsored influence activity related to the Gaza war. In January, Israeli newspaper Haaretz found that the Israeli government bought technology to conduct online influence campaigns. In February, an open source intelligence researcher and then DFRLab identified a network of inauthentic social media accounts that amplified content attacking the staff of the United Nations agency that works with Palestinian refugees.”
Progressives Fighting Major Right-Wing Money Push in Dem Primaries, People’s World
Mark Gruenberg shares, “Progressive groups, including J Street and Our Revolution, are mobilizing to beat back a big—and getting bigger—right-wing money push to oust their legislative allies on Capitol Hill during the current Democratic primaries and replace them with so-called “moderates” or, even worse, right-wing Republicans.”