[ ]J Street[ ]
Emergency Briefing:
The Risk of Regional War
Monday, August 5 | 11am Eastern
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Friends,

I fear what the coming days may bring.

It’s been 300 excruciating days since October 7. Just as we were hoping
that negotiations might be nearing fruition to end the war and bring the
hostages home, events of recent days seem now to be pushing Israel and the
wider Middle East down a path toward catastrophic regional conflict, with
millions of civilians caught in the crossfire.

Last week saw horrific scenes in northern Israel, with a dozen children
and young adults killed when a Hezbollah rocket slammed into a soccer
field. This week, Israel responded with a targeted strike in Beirut which
killed Hezbollah’s second-in-command. Yesterday, Hamas’s political leader
and key ceasefire negotiator was assassinated in Tehran.

Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas have promised retaliation, and all of us at J
Street are anxiously watching news reports, waiting to learn what the
coming days will bring for loved ones and friends.

Make no mistake: No one at J Street is shedding a tear because there are a
few less terrorist leaders in the world. Those killed fomented wanton
violence that brought untold suffering to innocent civilians. Any country
attacked as Israel was has the right to go after those who mastermind and
execute such horrific acts.

But the painful reality is that every action induces a predictable
reaction, and now we face the risk of a region spiraling toward all-out
war – a war that could overwhelm Israel’s defense systems, draw in
American troops, and trigger a volatile series of calamities.

A critically important and painful consequence is that, for hostage
families in Israel and for Palestinians struggling to keep their families
safe in Gaza, these latest events push a deal to end the fighting and free
the hostages further from reach.

With the risk of miscalculation growing with every strike and
counterstrike, J Street is urging the Biden Administration to move at
lightning speed to stop the spiral. The US must play a key role in pulling
the region back from the brink.

In America, Israel, Iran, Lebanon and the tunnels underneath Gaza, the
most hawkish voices didn’t waste a moment this week in dusting off their
calls for all-out war.

But as too many have learned the hard way, wars are rarely simple, rarely
easy and rarely take the path you expect.

Having only this past April avoided a harrowing escalatory spiral –
resulting in hundreds of missiles and drones raining down over Israel – it
is deeply distressing to be facing such a moment again.

The surest way to defuse the situation is to hammer out a ceasefire
agreement now, before it’s too late.

We support the Biden Administration and all the actions it is taking both
publicly and behind the scenes to try to de-escalate the situation and
lead us back from the brink.

We cannot allow war-mongers to drive our policy or dominate the debate. In
this moment of calm before the storm, J Street is committed to being a
clear and forceful voice for reason, sanity and peace.

Thank you, sincerely, for your partnership and support for our work to
this end.

Jeremy Ben-Ami
President, J Street


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J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy
Americans who want Israel to be secure, democratic and the national home of the
Jewish people. Working in American politics and the Jewish community, we
advocate policies that advance shared US and Israeli interests as well as Jewish
and democratic values, leading to a two-state solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.



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