Friends,
I know that as a community, we’re continuing to process the horror and grief of the shocking atrocity committed by Hamas over the weekend – and the ongoing horror of hostage-taking, further violence and painful details of terror and loss.
Across the country, J Street is joining vigils and rallies in local communities and holding regional gatherings for our community.
Later today at 12pm Eastern / 9am Pacific, we’ll also host a national briefing with Israeli security and policy experts to help work through what has happened, how it happened and what may happen next.
We’ll be joined by former IDF Brigadier General and member of Commanders for Israel's Security, Yoni Shimshoni, and Celine Touboul, Co-Executive Director of the Israeli Policy Think Tank the Economic Cooperation Foundation.
Register to join us today at 12pm Eastern / 9am Pacific >>
In this time of profound anguish, with Israel in a state of war and national emergency and conflict still raging on both sides of the Gaza border, with other fronts already in a vulnerable state, we stand in solidarity with the Israeli people and with the Israeli armed forces that have been battling desperately to protect them.
We support Israel’s right to defend its citizens from this barbaric attack in accordance with international law.
We are deeply worried for the safety of the Israeli people, including the hostages now in Gaza, as well as for the safety of the Palestinian civilians who are now caught in the crossfire – with hundreds of people now reported dead and over 2,500 wounded in Gaza amidst intensive Israeli airstrikes and a full cut of electricity, gas, water and food to the Strip.
As a community, our priority right now is to lend whatever support and assistance we can to those impacted. Here at home, we are focused on supporting and caring for one another as we struggle to process our grief over what has happened and our fear over what may be yet to come.
In Israel, we’re working to support the safety of our staff and partners, and to help organizations doing critical work on the ground. You can find a non-exhaustive list of organizations on the ground and how to donate directly to them on this page.
Yours sincerely,
Adina Vogel Ayalon
Chief of Staff, J Street
