News Roundup for September 13, 2024

September 13, 2024
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J Street In the News

Shushan Street: It’s Time to Sanction Smotrich, Ben-Gvir, and Key Entities Perpetuating Settler Violence and Annexation, J Street Policy Center
With all eyes on the war in Gaza, the Netanyahu government is taking actions in the West Bank that abet settler violence, advance annexation, weaken the Palestinian Authority, destabilize the territory, and fuel rising Palestinian extremism and support for armed struggle. Top Israeli military brass warn of the eruption of ‘a third Intifada,’ while Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar warned Netanyahu that ‘terrorism’ committed by extremist settlers “will lead to bloodshed and will unrecognizably change the face of the State of Israel.”

The Spiraling Situation in the West Bank [Video], J Street
Media attention was jerked back to the West Bank following the horrifying news that a 26-year-old American peace advocate had been shot dead by Israeli forces. The news comes amid ongoing reports of an unprecedented rise in settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, increased IDF military operations and a near-total lack of accountability for soldiers and settlers alike. Learn more from this expert panel featuring renowned human rights lawyer Michael Sfard, Israeli-Palestinian peace and security expert Celine Touboul, and Peace Now Executive Director Lior Amihai.

Doug Emhoff Is Kamala Harris’ Envoy for Persuading Jewish Donors, Bloomberg
“It means the world to us when we see you fighting to make our kids feel safe on college campuses,” said Gordon, who is a board member of J Street, a liberal Jewish lobbying group, “and when we see you working to get people to understand that Jewish values are American values.”

Republicans Say They’re Standing up for Jewish College Students Against Campus Antisemitism. They’re Not, The Chicago Sun-Times
J Street U student leader Talia Winiarsky writes, “We’re tired of listening to politicians – especially those in the Republican Party – who use us for their own gain. Last year, politicians cherry-picked student voices to fit their personal agendas and spoke over so many of us, exploiting our pain to boost their polling numbers and embarrass their opponents. As college students return to dorms and lecture halls, we need real solutions, not empty speeches.”

Top News and Analysis

New Video, Witnesses Challenge Israel’s Account of US Activist’s Killing, The Washington Post
A Washington Post investigation has found that Eygi was shot more than a half-hour after the height of confrontations in Beita, and some 20 minutes after protesters had moved down the main road — more than 200 yards away from Israeli forces. A Palestinian teenager, who witnesses say was standing about 20 yards from Eygi, was wounded by Israeli fire; the IDF would not say if he was a target.

Four Killed, Infant Critically Wounded, in Car Bombing in Central Israel; Police Suspect Criminal Motive, Haaretz
Four people, including a mother and her two children, were killed on Thursday in a car explosion in the central Israeli city of Ramle that the Israel Police says appears to be criminally motivated in nature. The victims were named as Dua Abu Halawa, 50, her daughter Sila, 14, and son Mohammed, 10, as well as 14-year-old Lin Moghrabi, whose father was killed four years ago. A one-month-old baby was also critically wounded.

News

Blinken Says US Will Keep Pressing Israel to Spare Gaza Humanitarian Sites, AP
The U.S. secretary of state said Thursday that the United States will continue to press Israel to do more to spare humanitarian sites in the Gaza Strip, a day after an Israeli airstrike on a U.N. school complex sheltering displaced Palestinians killed 14 people, including six U.N. staffers.

Israel Destroyed Reported Iranian Underground Missile Factory in Syria Ground Raid, Axios
An elite Israel Defense Forces unit conducted a highly unusual raid in Syria earlier this week and destroyed an underground precision missile factory that Israel and the U.S. claim was built by Iran, according to three sources briefed on the operation.

IDF Declares Hamas’s Rafah Brigade Defeated; No Active Cross-Border Tunnels Found, The Times of Israel
The Hamas terror group’s Rafah Brigade has been decimated, at least 2,308 of its operatives have been killed by the Israel Defense Forces, and over 13 kilometers (8 miles) worth of tunnels have been destroyed, military officials told reporters on Thursday.

A Charity Taught Children Strike Drills in a School Compound. Days Later, Israel Attacked It, NBC
Israeli officials said their intelligence indicated that no women and children were in the area they targeted with three high-precision bombs: a mosque in the Tabeen school compound. In video and photos of the school, the mosque appeared to be connected to the school building, where displaced Palestinians were sheltering.

In Jordan’s Elections, Anger at Israel Over the Gaza War Fuels Islamist Gains, NPR
Jordan’s Islamist opposition made the biggest gains of any opposition party in parliamentary elections held this week, winning one-fifth of the seats amid increasing anger against Israel over the war in Gaza.

The Palestinian Economy Is in Free Fall and Will Require Billions to Rebuild, the UN Says, AP
The report from UN Trade and Development, or UNCTAD, also warned of “rapid and alarming economic decline” in the West Bank, citing expanded Israeli settlements, land confiscations, demolition of Palestinian buildings and violence by settlers.

Gaza’s Traumatized Children Are Facing Another Lost Year of School, The Washington Post
Gaza’s 650,000 students are now missing their second year of school, an absence educators say will compound the trauma of war for children and could cause many of them lasting developmental problems.

New Israeli Poll Shows Netanyahu’s Party Advancing, Reuters
Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition with a clutch of nationalist-religious and ultra-Orthodox parties would lose any election held now, with 53 seats in the 120-seat parliament, against 58 for the main opposition bloc, according to the poll. But Likud’s advance shows how far Netanyahu has moved since last year.

Opinion and Analysis

Palestinian Prime Minister: A Day-After Plan for Gaza, The Washington Post
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa writes, “With a permanent cease-fire, the Palestinian government stands ready to resume responsibility for the Gaza Strip, leading efforts to fully integrate governance across both it and the West Bank. This integration is essential not only for effective relief, recovery and reconstruction in Gaza, but also as a step toward the broader goal of achieving a permanent political agreement in line with international law and a two-state solution.”

The Latest ‘Poison Pill’ in the Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Negotiations, The New Yorker
Isaac Chotiner speaks with Robert Blecher, the director of the Future of Conflict Program at the International Crisis Group to understand whats preventing a ceasefire. “An earlier Israeli proposal had been rejected by Hamas because it was insisting that the ceasefire be immediate and permanent. In July, Hamas backtracked and said, O.K., we can make a deal without a permanent ceasefire, a permanent end of the war. We can wait until later for that. What happened subsequently is that Netanyahu basically pocketed the Hamas concession and said, ‘Now we also want control of the Philadelphi Corridor.’”

A Cease-Fire and Hostage Deal in Gaza Will Require a Change of Framework, The Hill
Boaz Atzili argues, “A deal is in fact in the interest of both Israel and the Palestinians. Why, then, has it not been sealed yet? Because the negotiated deal’s framework allows Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who does not want the war to end, to sabotage it every step of the way. The framework must be changed to achieve a breakthrough.”

86th Street and Broadway, New Jersey Jewish News
J Street leader Mark Lurinsky writes, “The hostage families with their bravery and outspokenness now represent the moral center of world Judaism and our best hope for peace. […] For some college campus radicals, the Stars of David on the side of planes delivering death-producing munitions over Gaza have become objects of their loathing and, disturbingly, some have also taken this as license to adopt distorted attitudes toward the entire Jewish people. There are undeniably too many antisemites within their ranks. I only hope they hear the outcry for peace coming from the folks wearing Stars of David at Columbus Circle down the way who are also calling for an end to the suffering.”

I’m an American Activist. Israeli Forces Shot Me at a Peaceful Protest in the West Bank, Time
Daniel Santiago writes, “The Israeli army called my shooting an ‘accident,’ claiming the soldiers fired live rounds into the air. (I had previously used an alias, Amado Sison, but have decided to go public with my real name.) The truth is they fired straight at me. The bullet entered through the back of my thigh and out the front. It’s a trajectory that would be impossible for a bullet falling from the sky. The State Department has said they are “aware of the incident,” and the U.S. Embassy has offered me accompaniment to file a report with the Israeli police. But I declined the offer because I believe such reporting whitewashes the systemic impunity Israel wields.”