This Week: As the World Meets in New York, Gaza Pulls Focus 🗽 | The Fallout of Netanyahu’s UN Speech 🎙️ | This Week in Congress… 🏛️ | Moral Clarity in the Days of Awe 🕯️ | Jeremy Joins BoomerLennials Podcast 🎧 | Rabbis Across the Country Speak Out ✡️ | This Week’s Must-Reads/Listens 📖 | Our Pro-Democracy To-Do List 🗳️ | And much more.

🗽 As the World Meets in New York, Gaza Pulls Focus: The UN General Assembly this week has already been a landmark moment for the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A wave of Western countries has formally recognized Palestinian statehood, with Trump and Netanyahu responding in furious, belligerent speeches.

• The Truth About This Year’s UN Meeting: Netanyahu would have us believe Israel stands alone – a “Super Sparta” besieged by enemies and abandoned by allies. It’s a narrative that keeps him in power as Israel’s sole defender while he drives an endless war of devastation in Gaza. In reality, however, the world is rallying around a comprehensive, pro-Israel, pro-Palestinian, pro-peace plan to end the war, free the hostages and work toward a future of freedom and security for both peoples, writes J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami. “Tragically, the one man standing in the way is the one most needed to move it forward: Benjamin Netanyahu.” Read more about the New York declaration >>
  
  
• Netanyahu Isn’t the Only Israeli in New York: Hostage families flew to the UN as well to meet with leaders and demand an immediate war-ending hostage deal. “I’m calling for greater international pressure to end this war and secure a hostage deal,” writes Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is still being held hostage. “This is not a war for the Israeli people or a war for the freedom of hostages like my son. It is an endless war for Netanyahu’s political survival. He is betraying Israel, and he is betraying my son.” Read and share Yehuda’s full piece >>
  
  
• 🔍 Dive Deeper: J Street Policy Analyst Liam Hamama discusses five things to watch for in this year’s UNGA. Read more >>

🎙️ The Fallout of Netanyahu’s UN Speech: On this week’s Word on the Street Live, Jeremy and Ilan sat down to unpack a whirlwind week at the UN – starting with Netanyahu’s speech just hours before. His message was sadly familiar: Rejection of Palestinian recognition, vows to “finish the job” in Gaza and framing everything as a “clash of civilizations” rather than reconcilable political conflicts. Watch here >>

🏛️ This Week in Congress…

• Overwhelming Majority of House Democrats Rally to Oppose Annexation: This week, 178 House Democrats signed onto a letter warning Prime Minister Netanyahu against West Bank annexation. Led by Representatives Brad Schneider and Jamie Raskin, the letter was signed by the entire current and former House Democratic leadership. Read more >>
  
  
• Landmark Congressional Letter in Support of Palestinian Statehood: 47 House Democrats have signed onto a letter led by Representative Ro Khanna to Secretary of State Mark Rubio, urging US recognition of Palestinian statehood. The letter coincides with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech to the UN General Assembly and follows the recognition of Palestinian statehood by several G7 members this week.

• “In light of the explicit efforts being made by the far right in Israel to bury the idea of a Palestinian state, actions like this letter are vital to affirm the global commitment to Palestinian self-determination” J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami tells The Guardian. Read more >>

🕯️ Moral Clarity in the Days of Awe: "This year, none of us can step into synagogue without carrying the unbearable weight of Gaza,” Jeremy writes. “The devastation and moral wounds before our eyes demand more than crumbs cast into a river. They call us to cast away our silence, our evasions, and our failure to act." Read the full Word on the Street post >>

🎧 Jeremy Joins BoomerLennials Podcast: This week, Jeremy joined the BoomerLennials podcast to share his Rosh Hashanah reflections: “‘Never again’ means standing against oppression and standing against violence and standing against the mistreatment of minority communities, and that's going to apply as well to the way the Israelis treat the Palestinians.” Listen to the full episode here >>

✡️ Rabbis Across the Country Speak Out: This year, rabbis across the country face a challenging task – celebrating the start of a new year, acknowledging the deep pain of this moment, and rising to the call for moral clarity and spiritual leadership. Here are a couple of sermons we felt were particularly powerful.

• Rabbi Sharon Brous, IKAR, Los Angeles: “If the soul of our people is to be redeemed, it will not flow from the annexationist zealots in the Knesset nor from their rabbinic brethren issuing rulings from batei midrash, from houses of study that have been hastily constructed on stolen land in the West Bank.” Watch and share (sermon begins at 2:26:00) >>
  

• Rabbi Jon Roos, Temple Sinai, Washington, DC: “Look through the machzor and you will not find much about apples and honey, but the words ‘King’ and ‘Peace’ and references to community are all over the book. Jewish history and the stories of those Jewish holidays are all about fighting against authoritarian rulers and never acceding to them." Watch and share (Rosh Hashanah morning services, sermon begins at 1:00:30) >>
  

• Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann, Mishkan, Chicago: “We do the Jewish people and the Jewish state no favors by keeping our heads down as if we don’t look it’s not happening. Because the consequences of empowering state-sponsored Jewish extremism imperil all of us.” Watch and share >>
  

• Rabbi Elliott Tepperman, Bnai Keshet, New Jersey: “We must make sure that the Jewish religion is not submerged and shredded by the power of the Jewish state. Netanyahu has acted criminally in ways that have harmed the Jewish people and stained the reputation of Israel, but most importantly, have led to an atrocity of Palestinian death.” Watch and share >>
  

• If you want to share a Rosh Hashanah (or Yom Kippur) sermon, please feel free to reach out at [email protected]! We may not be able to respond directly to everyone, but appreciate any submissions you have.

📖 This Week’s Must-Reads/Listens:

• We Can’t Ignore Settler Violence in the West Bank
  Chair of J Street Cleveland Gregg Levine writes, "J Street believes in a secure Israel alongside a free and independent Palestine. We support Israel’s right to defend itself, and we also insist that it act in accordance with democratic values and international law. Occupation, unchecked settler violence and creeping annexation make peace impossible and does lasting harm to Israel’s moral standing and long-term security."

• It’s Time to Impose Conditions on Aid to Israel
  Jon Finer and Philip Gordon write in Politico, "Under these circumstances, with Hamas decimated and humanitarian conditions in Gaza beyond intolerable, we believe it is long past time for more decisive U.S. action to try to end the war. And that includes the most meaningful and material step the United States could take — arguably the only one of consequence — which is to finally leverage the billions of dollars it provides to Israel annually for security assistance."

• Our True Friends in the US Are in the Democratic Party
  J Street Israel Executive Director Nadav Tamir writes, "The US is in a period of polarizing leadership and rising political violence that could push the world’s greatest power into yet more chaos and instability. In this moment, we must remember: Our true friends are not those who exploit Israel to attack their opponents, nor those who give Netanyahu a blank check in Gaza. They are the ones who have stood by us consistently – and still do – even when their support comes with tough love that many Israelis would rather not hear."

• Arab League Summit in Doha Leaves Israel With a Choice
  Nimrod Novik writes, "The moment seems to call for Arab leaders to grant a series of in-depth interviews to Israeli TV channels and saturate social media with Israeli-public-targeted articulations of three themes: the promise of the regional offer, the destructive nature of Israel’s conduct, and what it would take for the regional opportunity to materialize."

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