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.
J Street Welcomes FBI Investigation into Killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, J Street
“J Street welcomes the US Justice Department opening a formal FBI investigation into the killing of renowned Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the occupied Palestinian Territory. This is a critically important and necessary step toward conclusively determining exactly how and why Abu Akleh was killed and to holding those responsible fully accountable.”
J Street Condemns Terror Attack Against Israelis in Occupied West Bank, J Street
“J Street is horrified by a terror attack today near the settlement of Ariel in the occupied West Bank, in which three Israelis were killed and three more were wounded. Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the victims as we hope for the speedy recovery of the injured.”
US Expresses Alarm Over Israeli, Palestinian Civilians Killed in West Bank, The Times of Israel
The US State Department on Tuesday expressed alarm over the spike in killings of Israeli and Palestinian civilians and urged the parties to take action to restore calm. “The United States is deeply concerned by the increased violence in the West Bank,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said. “We convey profound condolences to the families and loved ones of the Israeli and Palestinian civilians, including children, who have been killed in the past 48 hours,” Price said in a relatively rare statement that was released independently from the day’s press briefing hours earlier.
Israel Deploys Remote-Controlled Robotic Guns in West Bank, The Washington Post
In two volatile spots in the occupied West Bank, Israel has installed robotic weapons that can fire tear gas, stun grenades and sponge-tipped bullets at Palestinian protesters. The weapons, perched over a crowded Palestinian refugee camp and in a flashpoint West Bank city, use artificial intelligence to track targets. Israel says the technology saves lives — both Israeli and Palestinian. But critics see another step toward a dystopian reality in which Israel fine-tunes its open-ended occupation of the Palestinians while keeping its soldiers out of harm’s way.
Herzog Calls for ‘Openness’ as Most Right-wing Israeli Parliament in Country’s History Sworn In, Haaretz
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog launched the inaugural session of the 25th Knesset by calling for “listening, respect and openness,” as one of the most right-wing governments in the country’s history is sworn in.
Ben & Jerry’s Board Bemoans West Bank, East Jerusalem Sales, AP
Ben & Jerry’s board of directors on Tuesday rebuked the sale of products bearing any of the ice cream maker’s insignia in West Bank settlements, the latest salvo in the Vermont-based company’s feud with its corporate parent over ice cream sales in the territories.
Oil Tanker Owned by Israeli Billionaire Hit by Bomb-Carrying Drone off Oman, The Times of Israel
An oil tanker associated with an Israeli billionaire has been struck by a bomb-carrying drone off the coast of Oman amid heightened tensions with Iran, officials said Wednesday.
The U.S. Jewish Silence on Israel’s Far Right Stinks of Moral Bankruptcy, Haaretz
Executive Director of T’ruah Rabbi Jill Jacobs notes, “The rise of far-right extremists who could sit in Netanyahu’s government is a real and present danger to Israeli democracy, and the lives of both Jews and Palestinians. So why is the American Jewish community not speaking out?”
In Masafer Yatta, Teachers Like Me Can’t Guarantee Our Students an Education, +972 Mag
Awdah Hathaleen explains, “With schools facing demolition orders and soldiers detaining students and teachers for hours, obstacles to education are becoming insurmountable.”
Accountability Is Justified — and Needed — in a U.S. Reporter’s Death, The Washington Post
The Washington Post Editorial Board argues, “Abu Akleh was a U.S. citizen, a respected professional and a prominent media voice in Middle East affairs. Americans deserve a full accounting of her death; the Justice Department’s reported probe is a step in that direction. It is unacceptable that one of Washington’s closest allies would obstruct that entirely reasonable objective.”
