The Test of Our Times, Substack
J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami writes, “Across the landscape, we are witnessing capitulation after capitulation to Trump’s weaponization of the powers of the state. Social media and corporate media executives are bending the knee. Major universities and corporate law firms too. The American Jewish community cannot fail to stand up and speak out – even and especially for the rights of those with whom we don’t see eye to eye. I’ll commit: J Street will fight for the rights and freedoms that have allowed our ancestors to find refuge and build a future here in the United States. Other Jewish leaders and institutions must do the same.”
For Israel’s Security, Help Us Stop the War., The Times of Israel
J Street Israel Executive Director Nadav Tamir writes, “As a Zionist in every fiber of my being, I call on everyone for whom the future of the State of Israel is important to understand: There is no moral justification for providing a blank check for a war that kills hostages, that kills young soldiers, and that continues to kill hundreds of uninvolved people in Gaza and severely damages Israel’s legitimacy.”
Former Ambassadors Warn Diaspora Jews of Government Undermining ‘Pride and Security’, The Jerusalem Post
24 former Israeli ambassadors, including Nadav Tamir, former Israeli Consul General to New England and current J Street Israel Executive Director, urged Jews worldwide to support the hundreds of thousands of Israelis fighting to keep the country Jewish and democratic. They warned that the current government “harms the pride and security of world Jewry” and lacks majority public support. Emphasizing their struggle to preserve a vibrant and viable democracy, they called on their “Jewish brothers and sisters in the Diaspora to raise their voices amid Israel’s ongoing internal crisis.”
What We Know About Talks for a Renewed Gaza Cease-Fire, The New York Times
“Hamas said on Saturday that it had accepted a proposal for a new cease-fire, which would see some hostages released from captivity in Gaza. Israel said it, too, had received a proposal via third-party mediators and had responded with a counterproposal in coordination with the United States. ‘The military pressure is working,’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said on Sunday in remarks at the start of his weekly cabinet meeting, adding that Israel was ‘suddenly seeing cracks’ in Hamas’s position.”
Israeli Mossad Asks African Countries To Take Palestinians From Gaza, Axios
“President Trump’s proposal to remove all two million Palestinians from Gaza to rebuild the enclave hasn’t gone anywhere. But Netanyahu is also looking for ways to relocate large numbers of Palestinians, potentially to countries thousands of miles away. Talks have already taken place with Somalia and South Sudan — two poor conflict-plagued countries in East Africa — as well as other countries including Indonesia, according to the two Israeli officials and a former U.S. official.”
Israeli Military Orders Evacuation of Most of Gaza’s Southern City of Rafah, AP
“The Israeli military on Monday issued sweeping evacuation orders covering most of Rafah, indicating it could soon launch another major ground operation in the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip. […] The evacuation orders appeared to cover nearly all of the city and nearby areas. The military ordered Palestinians to head to Muwasi, a sprawl of squalid tent camps along the coast. The orders came during Eid al-Fitr, a normally festive Muslim holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.”
Bodies of Missing Aid Workers Found in Gaza ‘Mass Grave’ Following Israeli Attacks, CNN
“The bodies of more than a dozen aid workers have been recovered in southern Gaza from what a United Nations agency described as a ‘mass grave,’ a week after they went missing following attacks by Israeli forces. Eight of the 14 bodies recovered Sunday from the site in the southern Rafah area were identified as members of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), five as civil defense, and one as a UN agency employee, PRCS said in a statement. One PRCS medic remains missing. The body of a fifteenth person, a civil defense worker, was recovered last Thursday from the site, after PRCS said they were initially denied access to the area. CNN has reached out to the Israeli military.”
Netanyahu Picks Former Navy Commander Eli Sharvit To Be Next Head of Shin Bet, The Times of Israel
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to appoint former Navy commander Vice Adm. (res.) Eli Sharvit as the next head of the Shin Bet instead of Ronen Bar, whom the cabinet voted to dismiss earlier this month. […] According to a report by Ynet in March 2023, Sharvit joined a protest on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street, alongside other former military officers. He did not issue a call to refuse to show up for duty, as some other reservists did, but only expressed concern over the planned legislation, according to the report.”
Two Netanyahu Aides Arrested Over Connection Between PM’s Office and Qatar, Haaretz
“Two advisers to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Yonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein, were arrested Monday as part of the investigation into the connection between officials in the prime minister’s office and Qatar. They are suspected of contact with a foreign agent, accepting bribes, fraud, breach of trust and money laundering.”
Israel Digs In Beyond Its Northern Border, The New York Times
“Israel has built a growing network of outposts and fortifications in Syria and Lebanon, deepening concerns about a protracted occupation in parts of the two countries. Israel says it wants to prevent another surprise attack across its borders like the October 2023 Hamas-led attack that ignited the war in Gaza. [… ] Israel says its presence in southern Syria — it has at least nine outposts there — is intended to protect communities in northern Israel. It has expressed distrust of the new government in Damascus, which is led by the Islamist rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad late last year. […] In Lebanon, Israeli forces have constructed outposts in five locations, despite the initial agreement to leave in January.”
Israel-USA: Two Coups, Two Opposite Reactions, JCall
Sebastien Levi writes, “Israelis understand that they cannot remain passive when fundamental issues are at stake… This is not to question American patriotism but rather to highlight a sense of complacency—one that may be Trump’s greatest ally in his reckless march to fundamentally transform the country.”
Gaza’s anti-Hamas Protests Are an Opportunity for Moderate Palestinian Leadership. Will Israel Squander It?, Haaretz
“If Israel fosters an enabling environment for a credible alternative such as the PA or Fatah to emerge, this moment could mark the beginning of the end of Hamas’s grip on Gaza — but without a political alternative, dissent risks collapsing into chaos.”