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.
Amid Lebanon Strike, Defiant Netanyahu Declares Israel Is ‘Winning’, The New York Times
“The threats Israel faces are serious, but Netanyahu’s continued warmongering approach is only putting millions of Israelis, Palestinians and Lebanese civilians at risk as the whole region is on the brink of an all-out war,” Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of the liberal Israel advocacy group J Street, said in a statement after the Israeli leader’s speech.
On Being a Progressive Zionist, The Jerusalem Strategic Institute
J Street Israel Executive Director Nadav Tamir writes, “Indeed, Zionism created a national home for the Jewish people. But without a national home for the Palestinian people, we will not be free in our land. For exactly the same reason that I am a Zionist, I support the rights of the Palestinians to a state of their own. I believe that without political separation between the peoples and without national rights of the Palestinian people living in the West Bank and Gaza, we in Israel will not be able to maintain a democratic and just society.”
Strike on Hezbollah Deepens Disconnect Between Biden and Netanyahu, The New York Times
“This is exactly the opposite of what President Biden had been working toward as he laid out a cease-fire plan and urged a diplomatic resolution,” said Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a liberal Israel advocacy group.
J Street Statement on Assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, J Street
We urge the US and its partners to double down on diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal to end the fighting between Israel and Hamas in the south and to find a solution along the Israel-Lebanon border that allows people on both sides of that border to safely return home. As we have said, the Biden Administration must now use all possible leverage to pull the region back from the brink.
Israeli Commandos Making Preparatory Raids Into Lebanon, Officials Say, The New York Times
Israeli commando units have made brief incursions across the border into Lebanon in recent days to prepare the ground for a possible wider invasion in the near future, according to six Israeli officers and officials.
US Boosts Air Support and Hikes Troop Readiness to Deploy for Middle East, Reuters
The U.S. military said on Sunday it was increasing its air support capabilities in the Middle East and putting troops on a heightened readiness to deploy to the region as it warned Iran against expanding the ongoing conflict. The announcement came two days after President Joe Biden directed the Pentagon to adjust U.S. force posture in the Middle East amid intensifying concern that Israel’s killing of the leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah could prompt Tehran to retaliate.
Israeli Army Strikes Yemen’s Hodeidah Port, Power Plant Used by Houthies, Haaretz
The Israeli army said that dozens of Air Force jets struck power stations and a seaport used by Houthi forces in Hodeidah and Ras Isa, Yemen—located about 1,800 kilometers (some 1120 miles) from Israel.
Israel Likely Used U.S.-Made 2,000-Pound Bombs in Nasrallah Strike, Visuals Show, The Washington Post
Israel probably employed U.S.-made 2,000-pound munitions in its strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah, according to a review of visuals released by the Israel Defense Forces.
Iran Vows Revenge for Top IRGC Officer Killed in Beirut Strike That Took Out Nasrallah, The Times of Israel
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a statement that the death of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Deputy Commander Abbas Nilforoushan “will not go unanswered.”
Hezbollah Says It Is Ready for Any Israeli Land Invasion in Lebanon, Reuters
Hezbollah fighters are primed to confront any Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon, the group’s deputy leader Naim Qassem said on Monday in his first public speech since Israeli airstrikes killed its veteran chief Hassan Nasrallah last week.
Israel’s Netanyahu Strengthens His Hold on Office by Adding a Rival to His Cabinet, AP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed a former rival, Gideon Saar, as a member of his Cabinet on Sunday, expanding his coalition and strengthening his hold on office.
Israeli Strikes May Have Displaced Million People – Lebanon PM, BBC
“It is the largest displacement movement that may have happened,” Najib Mikati said. Lebanon’s health ministry reported more than 50 people killed in Sunday’s strikes – two days after Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut.
What This Israel-Hezbollah-Hamas-Iran Conflict Is Really About, The New York Times
Thomas L. Friedman writes, “Netanyahu would have to break with the Israeli ‘Party of God’ — the coalition of far-right Jewish settler supremacists and messianists who want Israel to permanently control all the territory from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean, with no border lines in between — just like on Bibi’s U.N. map. Those parties keep Bibi in power, so he would need to replace them with Israeli centrist parties, which I know would collaborate with him on such a move.”
America Needs a New Strategy to Avert Even Greater Catastrophe in the Middle East, Foreign Affairs
Andrew P. Miller discusses, “It is possible to strike a balance between meeting Israeli security requirements and making clear that the United States will not indefinitely support a war causing so many civilian casualties and producing diminishing security returns at best. Such threats are not unprecedented in the U.S.-Israeli relationship; in the past, they have been employed regularly. Every U.S. president since Lyndon Johnson, with the exceptions of Clinton and Donald Trump—that is, nine of the last 11 administrations—has threatened to withhold, or has actually withheld, weapons systems or other aid in order to influence Israeli policy.”
As He Battles for Jewish Vote, Trump Is Endangering American Jews, Ynet
Orly Azulay argues, “Trump is strenuously courting the Jewish vote, but it’s unlikely to help him, given US Jews are liberal, educated and tend to steer clear of populist voices that make unrealistic promises; Saying his potential loss will be the Jews’ fault is reminiscent of scapegoating they went through about a century ago in Europe.”