[ ]J Street[ ]
Friends,

We finally have a ceasefire and hostage deal. Words can’t express the
overwhelming relief I feel.

We now have real hope that the anguish, death and devastation that the
people of Israel and Gaza have suffered these past 467 days can finally
end.

To be clear, it has taken far too long. Too many families in Israel and
Gaza will never see loved ones again. Too many have had their worlds
ripped apart. The trauma will last generations.

But while there will be years to litigate failures and missed
opportunities, today, I can only share in the joy of families who I hope
will soon be embracing their loved ones once again. I can only feel
gratitude that this horrific war may soon be over – that food can reach
those who don’t have enough. Help can reach those injured. The displaced
may now find shelter.

Over the past year, the J Street community has worked closely with hostage
families and peace advocates. We know many families in Israel and Gaza
personally, and it’s our deepest wish that they are made whole and safe as
soon as possible.

To everyone who pressed to get us to this point – who protested in Tel
Aviv, signed petitions around the world, pressed their leaders for more,
or pursued delicate diplomacy – I extend my most profound gratitude.

The work, however, is not over yet: We must ensure this ceasefire
agreement holds and negotiations on the next phases succeed.

The deal must deliver: Each and every hostage must come home. The fighting
must stop. Rockets must cease. Forces must pull back. Aid must flood in.

Extremists on both sides will seek to undermine this agreement. We cannot
allow them to succeed. We cannot go back.

For more on the intricacies of the deal – and the challenges it faces –
join our rapid-response briefing tomorrow at 12pm Eastern. We’ll be joined
by former White House advisor Ilan Goldenberg and Middle East policy and
Gaza expert Celine Touboul. [ [link removed] ]Register to join us >>

To ensure we never return to the horrors of October 7 and the ensuing war,
it’s also essential that the United States, Israel, Palestinian leadership
and pro-peace partners across the region hammer out a post-war plan.

Secretary of State Blinken outlined such a plan in a speech yesterday.
While we have had our disagreements with the administration, I
wholeheartedly support the clear, commonsense vision for peace, security
and integration that the Secretary outlined yesterday.

It included clear post-war parameters:   

* A red line against the return of Hamas or other terror groups.
* Palestinian governance of Gaza and the West Bank. No permanent
occupation.
* No reduction in territory. No civilian displacement. No siege or
blockade. 

He said Israeli and Palestinian leaders must reckon with hard truths:

* Seven million Jewish Israelis and seven million Palestinians are
rooted on the same land, neither peoples are going anywhere.  
* “The PA will need to carry out swift, far-reaching reform to build
more transparent, accountable governance.”
* “Israelis must abandon the myth that they can carry out de facto
annexation without cost and consequence to Israel’s democracy, to its
standing, to its security."

Importantly, he made the case for a time-bound, conditions-based pathway
to Palestinian statehood and Israeli integration in the region:

* Time-bound because no one can be expected to believe or accept an
endless process. Palestinians need and deserve a clear and immediate
horizon for political self-determination.
* Conditions-based because Israel cannot be expected to accept a
Palestinian state that is led by Hamas or other extremists, is
militarized, or has independent armed militias aligned with Iran or
rejecting Israel’s right to exist.

Finally, he laid out the choice that Israel must make: Between lasting
peace and integration, and endless war and isolation.

* “We have long made the point to the Israeli government that Hamas
cannot be defeated by a military campaign alone. That without a clear
alternative, a post-conflict plan, and a credible political horizon
for the Palestinians, Hamas – or something just as abhorrent and
dangerous – will grow back.”
* “Each time Israel completes its military operations and pulls back [in
North Gaza], Hamas militants regroup and reemerge because there is
nothing else to fill the void. Indeed, we assess that Hamas has
recruited almost as many new militants as it has lost. That is a
recipe for an enduring insurgency and perpetual war.”

Friends – This deal, and the vision Secretary Blinken outlined
yesterday, is what J Street and our pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy
allies have spent over a year pressing for.

But it’s not enough to outline a vision, the incoming administration must
show the leadership to make it a reality. To get every hostage home. To
end this horrific conflict for good.

At J Street, we’ll build as broad and deep a movement as possible to
champion real progress – across Israel, the United States and beyond.
We’ll expose and resist those seeking to derail this path.

We’ll do everything we can to ensure we never return to the past 16 months
of horror or the unsustainable pre-October 7 reality of endless terror and
occupation that preceded it.

We owe it to those we have lost, and to the generations to come.

Yours in hope,

Jeremy Ben-Ami
President, J Street


[ [link removed] ]DONATE
[ [link removed] ]Threads [ [link removed] ]Facebook [ [link removed] ]Instagram [ [link removed] ]Twitter
© 2025 J Street | [ [link removed] ]www.jstreet.org | [email protected]

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.



You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time:
[link removed]