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Dear A.,


Today, Prime Minister Netanyahu met with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.


Netanyahu said, "Thank you, absolute thanks, gratitude and admiration for CENTCOM, for the U.S. military, for the Secretary of Defense and the President of the United States. Magnificent. You have the gratitude of the people of Israel and the state of Israel, and I think of many, many others around the world."


Secretary Hegseth responded, "Thank you for being a friend, a model ally and showing leadership and strength. You can have a lot of allies and then you have allies with capabilities that actually execute on the front lines, and what you did was spectacular. So, thank you for being here."


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Prime Minister Netanyahu met with Secretary of Defense Hegseth at the Pentagon.


Later in the day, Netanyahu also met with a group of Democratic and Republican senators, reaffirming strong bipartisan support for the U.S.-Israel relationship.

AIPAC thanks the administration and Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress for continuing to stand strongly with our ally Israel.


The United States must continue to stand with Israel as the Jewish state works to free all the hostages and defend its families.

Hostage-ceasefire negotiations ongoing
Axios' Barak Ravid
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reported that there has been significant progress in the ongoing hostage-ceasefire talks, spurred by a meeting yesterday between U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, and a Qatari official. Qatar is a key sponsor of Hamas.


"There are still some gaps remaining but we are in a positive trajectory at the moment," a source told Ravid.


Meanwhile, freed Israeli-American hostage Keith Siegel
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testified before the Israeli Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday, describing the horrors he experienced in Hamas captivity.


"I was there for 484 days; [the remaining hostages have] been there for 641 days. It’s incredibly hard to describe in words what they’re enduring," he said.


"They threatened to kill me several times [and] held a weapon to my head. I saw hostages who experienced severe violence and threats to their lives. One woman was tortured, sharp rods pressed to her forehead [and] a gun held to her head."


Siegel added, "I may have returned physically, but part of me remains in Gaza, with Omri [Miran] and Gali and Ziv Berman. They suffer every minute."


While 50 hostages continue to suffer in captivity, those who have come home continue to demonstrate the strength and resiliency of the Israeli people.


Freed hostages Sasha Troufanov, held hostage for 498 days, and Sapir Cohen, held for 55 days, recently became
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engaged , determined to rebuild their lives.


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U.S.-Israel expand cooperation on AI and energy

Yesterday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum
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signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter to strengthen collaboration on artificial intelligence and energy.


"The future belongs to those who innovate. America and Israel are the prime innovation nations on the planet," Netanyahu said.


"Honored to partner with you and the tremendous people of Israel, as you say, innovators, technology innovators, cutting-edge business folks and a strong, proud country, and been a great American ally for a long time," Wright said.


"Today, the Department of the Interior, in conjunction with the Department of Energy and leaders on the National Energy Dominance Council, recognized the critical partnership between America and the State of Israel to strategically power the feedback loop of innovation between the energy sector and AI," Burgum added.

Treasury imposes additional sanctions on Iran

Today, the Treasury Department
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imposed sanctions on "22 entities based in Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Turkiye for their roles in facilitating the sale of Iranian oil that benefits the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF)... Iran’s most powerful paramilitary force and a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO)."


"The Iranian regime relies heavily on its shadow banking system to fund its destabilizing nuclear and ballistic missile weapons programs, rather than for the benefit of the Iranian people. Treasury remains focused on disrupting this shadowy infrastructure that allows Iran to threaten the United States and our allies in the region," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
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said .

AIPAC thanks the administration for this important action to cut the flow of funds to the regime in Tehran.


The U.S. must continue to increase the economic pressure on Iran and deny the regime resources it can use to rebuild its nuclear and missile programs.

Rubio announces sanctions on anti-Israel U.N. official

Secretary of State Marco Rubio
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announced today that the United States is "imposing sanctions on U.N. Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt [International Criminal Court] action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives."


"Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated. We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense."

AIPAC thanks the administration for sanctioning this extreme anti-Israel and antisemitic official who is now promoting boycotts of American companies simply for doing business with Israel.


Albanese's actions further expose the moral rot infecting the U.N.

IDF strikes and raids in Lebanon

In recent days, the IDF has conducted a series of targeted raids inside Lebanon, striking Hezbollah weapons depots and other terrorist infrastructure.

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According to the IDF, these operations were launched "following intelligence information and the identification of Hezbollah weapons and terrorist infrastructure in several areas of southern Lebanon," and were aimed at "prevent[ing] Hezbollah from reestablishing itself in the area."


On Tuesday, the IDF also struck and killed Mehran Mustafa Ba’jur, a senior Hamas commander, near the Lebanese city of Tripoli.


Israel has eliminated more than 180 Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon through precision strikes since the November 2024 ceasefire went into effect, as the Iran-backed terror group continues to violate the agreement.

The United States must continue to ensure our ally has the resources and support needed to defend its families and increase the pressure on Lebanon and Hezbollah to fully comply with the terms of the ceasefire.

MUST WATCH
"Women of the IDF" streaming on Prime Video and Tubi



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A new show streaming on
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Prime Video and
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Tubi , "Women of the IDF" follows five young women serving in different units of the Israeli Army. The series was filmed prior to the October 7 massacre. It is even more relevant today.

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​​​​​​​Click here to learn more.


Bret Stephens: "For Israel, It Pays to Be a Winner"

Writing in The New York Times, columnist Bret Stephens
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explains how "Israel's decisive battlefield victories that have created diplomatic openings that have been out of reach for decades - and would have remained so if Israel hadn't won."


"It's because Israel destroyed [Hezbollah] as an effective fighting force last year that it's now possible for the Lebanese state to again possess the most basic form of sovereignty, a monopoly on the use of force within its borders. And it's only because of Israel's victory that there's a realistic prospect of a peace agreement between Jerusalem and Beirut as part of an expanded Abraham Accords."


"There's a similarly hopeful story in Syria, where last week the Trump administration lifted sanctions on the government of President Ahmed al-Shara... it's unlikely that al-Shara's insurgents could have come to power if Israel hadn't first destroyed Hezbollah, depriving the regime of Bashar al-Assad of one of its most effective military arms. And neither Jerusalem nor Damascus might have been amenable to talks if Israel hadn't first destroyed many of Syria's remaining weapon stockpiles in December..."


In Gaza, Stephens adds, Hamas' "growing diplomatic flexibility is almost entirely a result of its proximity to total defeat."


Meanwhile, Israel's success against Iran "advertised its capabilities to Saudi Arabia, which may now be more amenable to joining the Abraham Accords - not out of a softhearted desire for peace but out of a hardheaded interest in cementing military, economic and technological ties with the Jewish state. It created at least the possibility that Iran might choose to forgo its nuclear ambitions out of fear of seeing them destroyed again..."


"Israel doesn't exist to placate the feelings of its detractors and defamers. It exists to protect Jewish life and uphold Jewish dignity in a world too intent on destroying both. If diplomacy now has a chance of succeeding, it's because in geopolitics, as in life, it pays to be a winner."

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Read the full column here.


Continue to
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follow AIPAC on social media for the latest updates.

Jake Braunstein

Director of Policy Communications


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Support our work to keep Israel safe.



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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