Friends,
Last night was a significant victory for the Biden administration, J Street and the pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy movement.
It was also a massive defeat for Donald Trump, AIPAC and the MAGA chaos caucus.
To recap: Republican Speaker Mike Johnson attempted to sabotage a bipartisan Senate deal to fund border security, military aid to Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel, and humanitarian aid to Gaza.
He attempted it by calling a vote on an alternative, Israel-only package with one goal: Drive a wedge over Israel in the Democratic Party. The proposal? No oversight over military assistance. No humanitarian aid for Gaza. No aid to Ukraine.
The implicit threat: Vote against this inadequate alternative and Trump, AIPAC and the MAGA movement will slam you as “anti-Israel.”
The gambit failed.
President Biden threatened a veto. Democratic Leader Jeffries told his caucus he’d vote no. J Street stood with the President, while AIPAC stood against. And, in a tense vote, the overwhelming majority of pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy Democrats joined us to reject Speaker Johnson’s ploy.
This is a significant, meaningful victory for our movement. Importantly, it preserves a path to legislate Israel aid along with vital funding for Ukraine’s defense against Vladamir Putin’s onslaught and urgently needed humanitarian aid to families in Gaza.
While AIPAC described support for civilians in Gaza and aid to Ukraine as “unrelated and contentious” – and unimportant to their advocacy – J Street knows that exacerbating a humanitarian catastrophe on Israel’s doorstep is in neither Israel’s nor America’s interests, and that support for Ukraine is vital for our country’s pro-democracy agenda.
J Street’s focus will now turn to building support for the Senate package: Ensuring aid to Israel is passed alongside humanitarian relief and necessary oversight measures to ensure our aid is used in compliance with US and international law.
Disingenuous attacks from AIPAC and MAGA Republicans are still flying. Together, we’ll need to ensure that elected officials who made the right call last night don’t come to regret their vote. To make clear that while our movement supports assistance to strengthen Israel’s security, we must reject it being used as a political wedge while denying humanitarian aid to Gaza or support for our partners in Ukraine.
If that work matters to you, please consider chipping in to help fund it. Your donation of $18, $36 or $90 – or any other amount – will help fund this work in the weeks and months ahead >>
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Thank you, sincerely, for your ongoing support.
Yours,
Jeremy Ben-Ami
President, J Street
