[ ]J Street[ ]
This Week: Tell Netanyahu To Stop Blocking Aid ✍️ | American Jews Reject
Trump’s Exploitation of Genuine Fears About Antisemitism ✊ | Marking Yom
Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut 🕯️ | The View From Capitol Hill 🏛️ | Last
Chance to Vote Hatikvah! ✡️ | Next Week: The People’s Peace Summit 👐 |
This Week’s Must-Reads (And Watches!) 📖 | Our Pro-Democracy To-Do List 🗳️
| And much more.

 ✍️ Tell Netanyahu To Stop Blocking Aid: For 61 days, the Netanyahu
government has blocked all humanitarian aid from every entry point into
Gaza. The impact is devastating: Women enduring C-sections without
anesthesia. Parents scavenging through garbage to feed their kids.
Surgeons operating without antibiotics.

* Take Action: This week, a letter is circulating in Congress calling
for an urgent end to the siege and for efforts to return to the
ceasefire/hostage deal framework. In the face of President Trump’s
damaging indifference, we’re working to rally as many lawmakers as
possible to demonstrate the moral leadership that our president won’t.
[ [link removed] ]Add your name >>

✊ American Jews Reject Trump’s Exploitation of Genuine Fears About
Antisemitism: One hundred days into the Trump Administration, Trump has
made his playbook clear: Attack democratic institutions, arrest and deport
political enemies and justify his authoritarian agenda by claiming he’s
protecting American Jews.

* Over 550 Rabbis and Cantors Condemn Trump’s Use of Antisemitism as a
Political Wedge: The statement, backed by J Street and T’ruah: The
Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, calls out the Trump Administration’s
cynical attempt to exploit legitimate fears of antisemitism as a
pretext to “divide Americans, undermine democracy, and harm other
vulnerable communities.” [ [link removed] ]Read more >>

* Standing United to Defend Our Values: J Street joined with the Muslim
Public Affairs Council to issue a joint statement condemning Trump’s
use of antisemitism to suppress free speech and civil liberties: “We
are confronting a dual crisis: The alarming surge in antisemitism,
anti-Muslim bigotry, racism and hate-driven rhetoric across the
country; and the dangerous escalation of state repression, often
disguised as a response to these very forms of hate.” [ [link removed] ]Read more >> 

🕯️ Marking Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut: This week marked both Israeli
Memorial Day and Israeli Independence Day.

* On Yom Hazikaron we wrote, “Today, we mourn all who have lost their
lives in war, terror and in this bitter cycle of ongoing conflict. We
cannot let the countless lives lost be in vain. We owe it to them to
fight for a future free of bloodshed – where both peoples can live in
safety, dignity and peace.” [ [link removed] ]Share our message on BlueSky >>

* On Yom Ha’atzmaut J Street Vice President and Chief of Staff Adina
Vogel-Ayalon shared, “The Israel I once knew and still fiercely love –
a place built on ideals of equality, community and justice – feels
increasingly distant from the Israel I see today.” [ [link removed] ]Read more here
>>  

🏛️ The View From Capitol Hill:

* Sanctioning Settler Violence: J Street welcomed Reps. Jerry Nadler,
Adam Smith and Jim Himes’ introduction of legislation to codify
President Biden’s groundbreaking sanctions against groups and
individuals promoting violence in the West Bank. “It’s incredibly
significant to have such senior members of Congress, including
respected Jewish and national security leaders, show unity on
legislation like this.” [ [link removed] ]Read more >>

* Antisemitism Awareness Act Collapses in Committee: A bill that risks
giving Donald Trump and his allies a powerful new tool to target
dissent, silence protest and erode democratic freedoms – stalled in
the Senate following a markup that added language to the bill that
makes clear that people cannot be labeled antisemitic simply for
speech or protests critical of Netanyahu and the war in Gaza.

* [ [link removed] ]Read more about the chaotic amendment process behind the
Antisemitism Awareness Act here >>

* [ [link removed] ]Read why J Street and nine other Jewish organizations sent a
letter to the Senate opposing the bill >>

✡️  Last Chance to Vote Hatikvah! Voting for the World Zionist Congress
closes this Sunday, May 4 – and because so few of the millions eligible to
vote actually take the time to cast a ballot, your vote is incredibly
powerful. By taking the time to vote for the Hatikvah Slate, you can help
ensure $5 billion in funding goes toward building a better future for all,
instead of supporting extremists and fueling settlement growth. [ [link removed] ]Vote
here >>

👐  Next Week: The People’s Peace Summit: Next week, 60 Israeli civil
society and peace organizations – Jewish and Palestinian – will host The
People’s Peace Summit in Jerusalem to demand a different future and to
transform the Israeli peace camp into a cohesive and powerful force for
change. [ [link removed] ]Join or host a global solidarity action in your area >>

📖  This Week’s Must-Reads (And Watches!):

* Hope in the Darkness: J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami writes, “This
week, as I met scores of people in living room salons and other small
gatherings, I kept getting the same questions: Is there any hope?
[...] Time after time, I found myself highlighting three points of
light I see on the horizon.”

 1. Change is coming in Israel.
 2. Israel has a historic opportunity to end the Arab-Israeli conflict.
 3. American Jews aren’t buying what Trump is selling.

   [ [link removed] ]Read the full piece on the Word on the Street Substack >>

* To Be Free in Our Own Land: J Street Israel Executive Director Nadav
Tamir writes, “This Independence Day will not be joyful. How can we
rejoice as the government has abandoned 59 of our sisters and
brothers? How can we celebrate national independence when our personal
independence is being stripped from us?” [ [link removed] ]Read more >>

* Watch the Israeli-Palestinian Joint Memorial Day Ceremony: As always,
this year's joint memorial ceremony, led by our friends at Combatants
for Peace and The Parents Circle – Families Forum, was incredibly
powerful and a vital reminder that from Israel to the US, we are far
from alone in the difficult work of peace. In case you weren't able to
tune it, [ [link removed] ]you can watch the full ceremony here >> 

[ [link removed] ][IMG]

🗳️ Our Pro-Democracy To-Do List:

[15][ ] [ [link removed] ]Tell Netanyahu to stop blocking aid >>

[17][ ] [ [link removed] ]Vote for the Hatikvah Slate for the World Zionist Congress >>

[19][ ]  [ [link removed] ]Find Pro-Israel, Pro-Democracy, Pro-Peace candidates at
JStreetPAC.org >>

[21][ ]  Pro-Democracy Actions Near You: Find a local action where you can
make a concrete difference in your community and around the country.
[ [link removed] ]Sign up for in-person and virtual volunteer opportunities here >>

[23][ ] [ [link removed] ]Sign up to join or host a global solidarity action for the
People’s Peace Summit on May 8-9 >>

[25][ ] [ [link removed] ]Sign up for J Street’s 2026 National Convention >>

 ✅ Thank you to the thousands of supporters around the world who joined us
in watching the Israeli Palestinian Joint Memorial Ceremony.

[ [link removed] ]Check out and share the regularly updated Pro-Democracy To-Do List on
our website >>

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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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