[ ]J Street[ ]
Friends,

Today, we mark one week of the second Trump Administration.

Pardoning the violent insurrectionists that attacked police officers on
January 6th. Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement and the World
Health Organization. Heart-wrenching scenes of refugees seeing their
flights to America canceled just hours before they were supposed to
depart. Blustering conflicts with US allies around the world.

I’ll be honest, very little of this surprised me.

This extreme chaos is what we're in for during the months and years ahead.
The floodgates are open, and we can expect a lot of damage to the issues –
and harm to the people – we care about.

The challenge for all of us in opposition is to be strategic about where
and when we fight.

Where do we have an actual chance of stopping something horrible from
happening? When will we have no moral choice but to engage? Where does a
hard-fought losing battle in the short term help set us up for a
longer-term victory?

As I’ve been saying, our strategic framework will be to advance where we
can and defend where we must. We will work to make smart, clear-eyed
choices while refusing to sacrifice our values and morals along the way.

When it comes to the Middle East, we can take some solace that, in the
past week, Israeli parents are at long last hugging their children freed
from Hamas captivity and Palestinian families are beginning the long
process of picking up the pieces in Gaza.

While he’s been busy sowing chaos at home, Trump and his team played an
important role in getting Netanyahu to agree to at least the early phases
of the ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Again, we’re clear-eyed on this: If there’s a way to work with the Trump
Administration to advance a long-term resolution of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we will. I’ve been writing about the various
influences on Trump that will determine his direction, and don’t rule out
that, for his own reasons, he may be more interested in pursuing a deal
than facilitating more war.

However, we know that there will be much for J Street to oppose. One of
Trump’s first acts behind the Resolute desk was to rescind Biden-imposed
sanctions on violent Israeli settlers and their backers. And we can’t
ignore that, over the weekend, the President indicated that he wants to
“clean out” millions of Palestinians by displacing them from their homes
in Gaza to other countries in the region.

It’s not only morally indefensible, but a crystal clear violation of
international law which would undoubtedly lead to more violence, death and
isolation on the world stage. It cannot happen.

Trump and his supporters will hear us loudly and clearly if they attempt
to ignore the American Jewish community’s overwhelming demand that peace
and diplomacy must win out over war and aggression.

At the same time, we’ll be ready to support the administration should they
pursue a comprehensive regional agreement that provides a clear path to
Palestinian statehood and conflict resolution.

If the past week is any indication of what lies ahead, we’re in for four
years of head-spinning, non-stop shock, as well as the occasional
unexpected surprise.

We’re ready for it all: Flexible. Strategic. Strong.

We’ll push back on all things Project 2025 as Trump implements his
extremist anti-immigrant, anti-choice, anti-democratic, anti-LGBT+ agenda.
And concurrently, we’ll be pressing him and his team to move in the right
direction when it comes to bringing the remaining hostages home, ending
this horrific war and setting in motion a serious ‘day after’ plan.

In closing, I’ll note that today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. It’s been
80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz. Today, many of us are
remembering both the losses our own families endured and the broader
catastrophe suffered by our community when a fascist, racist movement came
to power.

It’s particularly appropriate as we reaffirm our commitment to the core
democratic and Jewish principles and values on which we were raised – and
that are so clearly under threat again today.

Thank you for being with us, especially as we navigate these roiling
waters.

Onwards,

Jeremy Ben-Ami, 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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