This morning, Israel began a planned and incremental operation into Rafah. The IDF urged more than 100,000 Palestinian civilians living in the eastern portion of the city to evacuate to an expanded humanitarian zone in Gaza, sending texts, making phone calls, and dropping tens of thousands of leaflets over the communities.
Americans overwhelmingly support an Israeli operation into Rafah to root Hamas out of its final stronghold.
A recent national poll of 1,961 registered voters showed that 72% of Americans back the operation, including the majorities of every polled demographic—party, ideology, ethnicity, income, education, and each age range.
Israel has said it would proceed into Rafah to destroy the final four Hamas battalions operating among and below the civilian population. Hamas has despicably embedded itself in Rafah, deliberately hiding in and beneath the city to force Palestinians to be their human shields.
President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke by phone today to discuss the hostage negotiations and the operation in Rafah.
Later in the afternoon, Hamas announced that it had agreed the Qatari-Egyptian-backed ceasefire proposal. However, it quickly became clear that the announcement was a stunt by Hamas. The terror group was agreeing to its own proposal rather than the Israeli offer that had earned praise from President Biden and Secretary Blinken.
Accepting a fake deal is a cynical stunt by Hamas to manipulate the media, pressure Israel, and give false hope to 132 hostage families.
Despite the charade, Israeli leaders agreed to send a team back to Cairo to continue negotiations while the initial phase of the Rafah operation continues.
Pentagon: No policy changes on arms sales to Israel
Yesterday, it was reported that the U.S. delayed an arms shipment to Israel.
Today, the Pentagon indicated that there were no changes in U.S. policy.
An Israeli official said yesterday that, “Even now, a continued series of defense shipments are being sent from the US to Israel.”
AIPAC posted: "America must continue to stand with our democratic ally and ensure it has the resources needed to confront Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, and win this war.
Delaying arms transfers, conditioning aid, or exposing daylight in the alliance would only aid & embolden our shared enemies."
Key Race Tomorrow: Indiana-08
Tomorrow, voters in Indiana will head to the polls to vote in the congressional primary election. AIPAC has endorsed six pro-Israel candidates, including Mark Messmer, a pro-Israel state senator taking on Republican former member of Congress and anti-Israel candidate John Hostettler.
The AIPAC-backed super PAC United Democracy Project has been heavily engaged in this race to prevent the anti-Israel Republican from returning to Congress. We will keep you updated as the results come in tomorrow night.
Politico: Funders of anti-Israel protests are also backing the Squad
Yesterday, Politico published an exposé revealing the organizations funding anti-Israel protests on campuses across the country.
Many of these organizations are familiar to our community, as they are also the principal backers of Squad members like Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman.
Through their financial and grassroots networks, these anti-Israel groups are contributing significant resources to help get the Squad reelected and grow their ranks in Congress.
As we confront a well-funded and well-organized political opposition, the pro-Israel community must exponentially grow our political resources and ensure candidates who stand with Israel have the resources they need to win.
On Yom HaShoah, survivors of the Holocaust and 10/7 tell their stories
Ruth Haran, a Holocaust survivor who lived on Kibbutz Be'eri after barely escaping the horrors of the Nazis in Romania, faced yet another horrific massacre on October 7.
The Hamas attack, she says, felt like a second Holocaust.
Hamas terrorists not only murdered her son, but also took seven of her family members hostage, including her daughter, daughter-in-law, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Ruth's fellow kibbutz member and Holocaust survivor Haim Ra'anan went through a similar horror. "Never in my life did I imagine that as a Holocaust survivor, I would be hiding in fear for my life again," he said.
The mission of AIPAC is to encourage and persuade the U.S. government to enact specific policies that create a strong, enduring and mutually beneficial relationship with our ally Israel.
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