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.
Something Has Shattered in Our Politics, J Street
Tali deGroot, Ilya Braverman National Political Director, writes, “J Street is proud to be the Jewish community’s largest grassroots fundraiser for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, and we’re working to defeat MAGA candidates up and down the ballot. ‘This is exhausting, and it’s harmful,’ Kamala Harris said of the GOP’s weeks-long campaign against legal Haitian immigrants. ‘It’s hateful, and grounded in some age-old stuff that we should not have the tolerance for.’ We’ve got to turn the page on this stuff. That’s why, together, we’re giving voice to the values of our community, and the overwhelming majority of Jewish and pro-Israel Americans who recognize the danger, corruption and destruction inherent in the MAGA agenda.”
Jewish Groups Rap Trump for Threatening Jews Against Voting for Harris, Haaretz
J Street said that Trump “can only blame [himself],” adding that he is “the one dining with Holocaust deniers, fueling antisemitic conspiracy theories, and hurling insults at Jewish Americans.”
‘Outrageous and Dangerous’: Jewish Groups Blast Trump After He Said Jews Would Bear Blame If He Loses, The Forward
Trump’s remark, made in a Thursday speech to a Jewish audience in Washington, D.C., aligns with his past expressions of frustration toward American Jews for their tendency to vote for Democrats. He has accused them of ingratitude since the 2020 election, when 77% of Jewish voters cast ballots for President Joe Biden according to a J Street poll (68% according to an Associated Press survey.)
J Street U Hosts Palestinian American Peace Activist at Slifka Center, Yale Daily News
Last Thursday, Rawan Odeh, an activist for dialogue and joint advocacy between Israelis and Palestinians, visited students at the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale. “To me, liberation means a Palestinian state living side by side with an Israeli state,” Odeh said. “I think the loudest voices want to do away with it all. But I think the majority of Israelis don’t want to see Palestinians dead.” The national J Street U organization, which advocates against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory in the West Bank through the lens of Jewish values, planned the event as part of their “Voices Paving the Path to Peace” speaker tour, which took place across five universities in the Northeast.
Israel Strikes More Than 300 Hezbollah Targets, Reuters
Israel attacked hundreds of Hezbollah targets on Monday in airstrikes which Lebanese health authorities said killed at least 100 people, making it the deadliest day in Lebanon in nearly a year of conflict. After some of the heaviest cross-border exchanges of fire since the conflict flared, Israel warned people to evacuate areas where it said the armed group was storing weapons.
Hezbollah Steps up Rocket Attacks on Israel in Retaliation for Attacks, Axios
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday vowed to retaliate for a series of Israeli overt and covert attacks over the past week that killed dozens of people, including at least five children and wounded thousands more. Many were members of Hezbollah’s military units and institutions. On Sunday, the Lebanese health ministry said 48 people died in the Israeli strike in Beirut on Friday. Hezbollah said at least 16 of those killed were military commanders in the group, including its head of military operations, Ibrahim Aqil.
Israel Investigating Whether Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar Wounded, Killed or Deliberately Severed Contact With Outside World, Haaretz
Security officials told Haaretz that Israel has bombed tunnels in areas where Sinwar is believed to be hiding. However, they noted there is no clear evidence he was harmed, as no remains of his have been found. There have been previous instances during the war where Sinwar cut off communication.
Israel Strike Kills 22 in Gaza School, Says Hamas-Run Health Ministry, BBC
An Israeli air strike on a school in Gaza City has killed at least 22 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Iran Arrests 12 People for Collaborating with Israel, Revolutionary Guards Say, Reuters
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday that 12 people had been arrested for being operatives collaborating with Israel and planning acts against Iran’s security.
Israel Raids and Shuts Down Al Jazeera’s Bureau in Ramallah in the West Bank, AP
Al Jazeera aired footage of Israeli troops live on its Arabic-language channel ordering the office to be shut for 45 days. It follows an order issued in May that saw Israeli police raid Al Jazeera’s broadcast position in East Jerusalem, seizing equipment there, preventing its broadcasts in Israel and blocking its websites.
Netanyahu Considering Plan to Force All Palestinian Civilians Out of Northern Gaza to Besiege Hamas, CNN
Benjamin Netanyahu is considering a plan to force all Palestinian civilians out of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, in order to lay siege to Hamas and force the release of hostages.
Rashida Tlaib Condemns Cartoonist for Racist Image of Her with Exploding Pager, The Guardian
The Palestinian American congresswoman has accused a political cartoonist of racism after he depicted her next to a pager exploding days after such devices blew up across Lebanon in what the Arab country has said was an attack by Israel.
Former Israeli Army Chief Violently Removed From Anti-government Protest in Caesarea, Haaretz
Several of Israel’s former high-ranking military officers, including former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, were forcibly removed from Saturday night’s anti-government protest by Israeli police after they blocked the road leading to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s house in Caesarea and refused to move.
U.S. Officials Preparing for the Worst amid Fears of All-Out War Between Israel and Hezbollah, Haaretz
Ben Samuel reports, “It should also be noted that despite the lack of U.S. involvement in the escalation, coupled with the absence of Israel giving the U.S. advanced notice regarding specific strikes – including Friday’s, which killed more than a dozen senior Hezbollah commanders, including Ibrahim Aqil in southern Beirut – the Biden administration is not voicing criticism of Israel’s actions.”
My Senior Year [Audio], This American Life
Chana Joffe-Walt discusses, “Every year, thousands of teenagers come from all over the world to experience American high school. Last year, thirteen students from Palestine came to the US on a program sponsored by the US State Department. We tell the story of a girl named Majd, from Gaza, and her extraordinary year in America.”
Israel vs. Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran — and Itself [Audio], The Ezra Klein Show
Ezra Klein interviews David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker, to unpack “what Remnick learned profiling Netanyahu, Bennett and Sinwar, as well as where Israel’s overlapping conflicts with Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, Hezbollah and Iran sit after nearly a year of war.”