[ [link removed] ]End the War | Free the Hostages | Surge Aid

This Week: Time for Congress to Say No to Annexation and Recognize
Palestine ✅ | Red Alert for Annexation 🚨 | Trump’s Petty, Dangerous
Palestinian Ban ❌ | Norm Eisen Talks Democracy Under Fire 🎙️ | How Strong
is Hamas Today? ⚔️ | In Case You Missed It 🗞️ | This Week’s Must-Reads/
Listens 📖 | Our Pro-Democracy To-Do List 🗳️ | And much more.

✅ Time for Congress to Say No to Annexation and Recognize Palestine: With
the Israeli government intent on taking over Gaza and teetering on the
precipice of de jure annexation of the West Bank, J Street is proud to
support a landmark letter in the House backing US recognition of a
demilitarized Palestinian state.

* Why Now? Need Help Responding to Others? Our communications team has
put together a Truth vs Talking Points resource on the push for
recognition – explaining our position and responding to common talking
points from the other side. [ [link removed] ]Read and share the resource here >>

* Add Your Name, Call Your Member: J Street is rallying its national
grassroots movement behind the push for recognition. [ [link removed] ]You can read,
sign and share our petition here >>

* 🔍 Dig Deeper:J Street Policy Fellow Jen Gavito explains why US
recognition of Palestine – done conditionally and in phases – would
help push back against annexation, reestablish American leverage over
the Palestinian Authority, weaken Hamas and enhance Israel’s long-term
security. [ [link removed] ]Read here >>

🚨 Red Alert for Annexation: This week, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel
Smotrich openly called for Israel to officially annex roughly 82% of the
occupied West Bank – a move that would shatter Israel’s democracy, push it
deeper into pariah status and implode prospects for peace and regional
integration.

* Deepening Jewish Alienation: “The Smotrich vision undermines the
US-Israel relationship, detonates any chance of further regional
integration and alienates Israel further from the Jewish diaspora and
supporters of liberal democracy abroad. Pro-Israel, pro-peace,
pro-democracy leaders in Congress and our community must speak out
against this plan,” J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami wrote. [ [link removed] ]Read
more >>

❌ Trump’s Petty, Dangerous Palestinian Ban: This week, Trump took the
extraordinary step of barring all Palestinians from entering the US and
denying their leaders the right to represent them at the UN. 

* Capricious, Incoherent and Unreliable: “By breaking core American
obligations of the UN Headquarters Agreement for narrow political
motives – while still honoring them for Russian, Chinese, and Iranian
officials – Trump is signaling to the world that we are a capricious,
incoherent and unreliable partner with no respect for the rule of law
and international agreements,” J Street Chief Policy Officer Ilan
Goldenberg wrote. [ [link removed] ]Read more >>

🎙️ Norm Eisen Talks Democracy Under Fire in Israel and the US: In the
latest Word on the Street Live, Jeremy and Ilan sat down with Ambassador
Norm Eisen, who has long worked on the front lines of democracy – from
serving as President Obama’s ethics counsel to serving as co-counsel
during Trump’s first impeachment. [ [link removed] ]Watch here >>

⚔️ How Strong is Hamas Today? “Hamas no longer has the capability to
repeat October 7, but its guerrilla tactics have rendered Israel’s goal of
destroying Hamas even more elusive,” write Khalil Sayegh, Executive
Director of the Agora Initiative, and Avraham Spraragen, J Street Policy
and Research Coordinator.

* The J Street Policy Center’s latest explainer provides in-depth
analysis on topics including: Hamas’ military capability, finances,
ongoing human rights abuses, leadership structure, and uncertain
status in a ‘day after.’ [ [link removed] ]Read more >

🗞️ In Case You Missed It: 

* 🧑‍⚖️ [ [link removed] ]Judge Pierces Antisemitism ‘Smokescreen’ in Harvard Case: A
judge reversed funding cuts and found the White House likely “used
antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated
assault on this country’s premier universities.” 

* 🛑 [ [link removed] ]Netanyahu Rejects Hamas Readiness for War-Ending Hostage Deal as
‘Spin’: Netanyahu has been advocating a comprehensive deal to end the
war lately, but it has become clear that his interpretation is very
different from Hamas.

* [ [link removed] ]⛓️ Intelligence Data: Militants Account for Only 1 in 4 Gaza
Detainees: A classified Israeli army database indicates the vast
majority of Palestinians who have been arrested in Gaza and held in
detention are civilians, a joint investigation finds.

* ⚖️ [ [link removed] ]International Association of Genocide Scholars says Israel is
Committing Genocide: The vote by the group – which has around 500
members worldwide including a number of Holocaust experts – is a
significant moment. Israel has rejected the charge.

* ⚠️ [ [link removed] ]UAE Warns White House That Annexations Could Unravel Abraham
Accords: The UAE was the first Arab country to condemn the October 7
attacks, has maintained relations with Israel and even worked with the
Israeli government on a post-war plan.

📖 This Week’s Must-Reads/Listens:

* [ [link removed] ]A Rogue Force Operates in Gaza Under IDF Cover, Endangering
Soldiers and Unarmed Palestinians
Yaniv Kubovich and Josh Breiner write in Haaretz, "You can see them
across the Gaza Strip, almost everywhere. Teams of people operating
heavy equipment for one purpose: demolition. They aren't part of a
regular military unit, but rather small groups that form through
independent initiatives. They are civilians, many of them settlers,
who are mobilized into the reserves through contracting companies. The
goal is to destroy buildings and tunnels, or in the common words of
those involved: 'to flatten Gaza.'"

* [ [link removed] ]The Meeting That Haunts Netanyahu to This Day
Peter Lerner writes for Jewish News, "Bringing the PA into Gaza after
Hamas is dismantled would be a political earthquake for Netanyahu.
That’s why he has chosen the path of armed clans and gangs. To bring
back the PA to Gaza would be an admittance that his policy of division
was a failure. That Hamas was not contained. That the Palestinian
Authority, whom he dismissed and derided, was not the problem, but
part of the solution."

* [ [link removed] ]From Scapegoat to Pretext: How Trump Is Weaponizing Antisemitism
for Political Gain
Sebastien Levi writes in The Jerusalem Post, "As with issues like
immigration, crime, or rising prices, Trump does not seek to solve
problems but to seize them in order to discredit and trap his
opponents. The king of political instrumentalization has found in
antisemitism a winning formula."

🗳️  Our Pro-Democracy To-Do List:

[17][ ] [ [link removed] ]Tell Congress: Recognize Palestinian Statehood >>

[19][ ] [ [link removed] ]Tell Secretary Rubio: Stop punishing Gaza’s children >>

[21][ ]  [ [link removed] ]Tell Jewish leaders: We must speak out to end the war >>

[23][ ] [ [link removed] ]American Jews say: Bring them home. End the war >>

[25][ ] [ [link removed] ]Order or download posters or yard signs to share our message
>>

[27][ ]  [ [link removed] ]Find pro-Israel, pro-democracy, pro-peace candidates at
JStreetPAC.org >>

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

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J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy
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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
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