J Street Urges White House to Impose Sanctions on Extremist Israeli Ministers and Organizations, J Street
J Sreet President Jeremy Ben-Ami writes, “The two ultranationalist ministers have been at the helm of intensifying violence and instability in the West Bank in the shadow of the Gaza war – demolishing family homes, cheering violent attacks and shielding perpetrators from accountability. They are at the forefront of the push to annex the West Bank to Israel – an effort likely to receive a tremendous boost under the incoming Trump Administration.”
Trump’s Middle East Picks Signal Staunch Pro-Israel Policy, The New York Times
“It also drew condemnation from J Street, a liberal pro-Israel advocacy group. ‘The mask is off,’ the group wrote on social media. It said Mr. Huckabee’s appointment ‘is further proof that ‘pro-Israel’ for Trump is totally disconnected from Jewish values, safety or self-determination.’”
Trump and the Israeli Right Resume Their Embrace, The Washington Post
“Progressive supporters of Israel in the United States were alarmed by the implications of Huckabee taking the job. ‘The mask is off. This announcement is further proof that ‘pro-Israel’ for Trump is totally disconnected from any concern for Jewish values, safety or self-determination,’ Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a left-leaning pro-Israel group, said in a statement. ‘It’s all about what ‘pro-Israel’ means to extremists in the MAGA base.’”
Is Trump’s Israeli Ambassador Pick a Sign of Potential West Bank Annexation?, The Jerusalem Post
“This will be a voice in the debate in the State Department and then the national security team, a strong voice, a respected voice with real power and access for annexation,” said Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of the liberal Israel lobby J Street. “It’s a thumb on the scale.”
Nearly 90 Congressional Democrats Call for Sanctions on Smotrich and Ben Gvir, Jewish Insider
“The letter was supported by the progressive Israel advocacy group J Street, whose president Jeremy Ben-Ami said in a statement, ‘President Biden should not end his term by bending US law to allow Netanayhu’s far-right government to withhold aid from starving families, opening the door to further violations under Trump. He has the chance to give force and meaning to his stated empathy for the Palestinian people and to strengthen US legal safeguards before Trump takes office.’”
Nearly 90 Lawmakers Call On Biden to Sanction Israeli Ultranationalist Ministers, Axios
The letter signed by 17 Democratic senators and 71 Democratic members of the House was initiated by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). Van Hollen said the letter was made public because the lawmakers haven’t received a response from the White House yet. “We think the clock is ticking,” he said in a briefing with reporters.
Investigators Assess if Netanyahu’s Aides Forged Oct. 7 Phone Records, The New York Times
The investigation is seen as deeply sensitive in Israel, where the question of what Mr. Netanyahu knew in advance of Hamas’s invasion, and when he was told, could prove crucial to his political future. It is expected to play a key part in a postwar assessment of the role political and military leaders may have played in one of the worst military failures in Israel’s history.
Israeli Right Celebrates Hawkish Donald Trump Government Picks, The Financial Times
The appointments project “strength, determination, and this is a good thing for the US but also good for us”, Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, told Israeli Army Radio on Wednesday. “This doesn’t mean that everything we want they’ll say yes, but I think the attitude will be that of someone who understands the situation.”
Israel Destroyed Active Nuclear Weapons Research Facility in Iran, Officials Say, Axios
The strike — which targeted a site previously reported to be inactive — significantly damaged Iran’s effort over the past year to resume nuclear weapons research, Israeli and U.S. officials said.
IDF Strikes Beirut Suburbs for Third Day; Gaza Safe Zone Hit, The Washington Post
In the southern Gaza Strip, Doctors Without Borders said an airstrike in Mawasi, an area that Israel has designated a humanitarian zone, caused a “huge” explosion that destroyed equipment at one of its evacuated clinics. A Palestinian Civil Defense spokesperson said the strike hit tents sheltering displaced people, injuring at least seven.
Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 12 Lebanese Rescuers and 15 People in Syria, AP
An Israeli airstrike killed at least 12 Lebanese rescue workers on Thursday inside a civil defense center in the eastern city of Baalbek, according to health and rescue officials, hours after state media in Syria said Israeli strikes in and around the capital killed at least 15 people.
Hamas Official Urges Trump To ‘Pressure’ Israel Into Ending Gaza War, The Times of Israel
“Hamas is ready to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip if a ceasefire proposal is presented and on the condition that it is respected” by Israel, Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim tells AFP. “We call on the US administration and Trump to pressure the Israeli government to end the aggression.”
Lebanese Ceasefire Efforts Inch Ahead as Israel Keeps up Fierce Bombardment, Reuters
In Israel, Eli Cohen, the country’s energy minister and a member of its security cabinet, on Thursday said prospects for a ceasefire were the most promising since the conflict began.
Israel Is Fighting a Different War Now, The Atlantic
Eliot Cohen writes, “Israel is now fighting a different kind of war, which has elicited a different Israeli mindset. ‘We’re no longer afraid of casualties,’ a hard-bitten colonel told me. ‘I lost 10 guys, and nothing stopped. We don’t go to the funerals; we’ll visit after the war.’ This is a fundamental change from the Israel of October 6, 2023. Israel is girding itself for the daunting prospect of a long war against Iran, even as its immediate conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah cannot be swiftly and decisively wrapped up, no matter what American and European leaders might wish.”
Annex, Baby, Annex: Why Israelis Will Soon Regret Their Glee Over Trump’s Triumph, Haaretz
Dahlia Scheindlin shares, “The majority of Israeli Jews may have been lulled by Netanyahu’s constant portrayal of Trump as Israel’s best friend. But if Trump’s administration advances a theocratic, expansionist, isolated, authoritarian rogue state, they might one day realize that Netanyahu sold them a lemon.”
What a Trump Second Presidency Will Mean for School Prayer, Campus Antisemitism and Other Education Issues Jews Care — and Worry — About, The Forward
Lauren Markoe writes, “Regardless of who Trump taps to lead the department, Jewish groups and education experts are concerned about the president-elect giving wide berth to Christian nationalists who believe the country needs more religious influence on public education — and that that religious influence would be fundamentally Christian.”