This week: The Moment We’ve All Been Working For 🕊️ | Two years since
October 7 🕯️ | The Promise and Peril of Trump’s Gaza Deal 📄 | Join
Nationwide No Kings Rallies Next Saturday 👑 | A Word About Christian
Nationalism with Michelle Goldberg 🎤 | Reserve Your J Street 2026
Convention Ticket 🎟️ | This Week’s Must-Reads/Listens 📖 | Our
Pro-Democracy To-Do List 🗳️ | And much more.

🕊️ The Moment We’ve All Been Working For: On Wednesday night, mediators
announced Israel and Hamas’s agreement to a US-backed ceasefire proposal
that would immediately end the war, free all living hostages and provide
much-needed relief to the Palestinian people. J Street’s full focus now
turns to pressing for the strong, clear-eyed American leadership necessary
to keep the deal on track – and ensure neither side can sabotage progress.
We cannot go back. 

* A Moment of Cautious Optimism: “We urge all parties to seize this
moment of hope with courage, accountability and commitment to
steadfast diplomacy to ensure that this ceasefire becomes not just an
end to the war but a beginning of peace,” J Street President Jeremy
Ben-Ami [ [link removed] ]wrote in response to the news.

* Breaking the Cycle: “It was always going to take forceful American
leadership to break this impasse. In the end, that’s what made the
difference,” J Street Chief Policy Officer Ilan Goldenberg writes.
“This is the power of the United States refusing to take no for an
answer.” [ [link removed] ]Read Ilan’s topline analysis here >>

* 🔍 [ [link removed] ]Read the deeper dive on Substack >>

* Rapid-Response Briefing: Jeremy and Ilan were joined by Israeli
hostage negotiator Gershon Baskin to discuss how this deal was reached
and why this moment is different from past failed negotiations.
[ [link removed] ]Watch here >>

🕯️ Two years since October 7: Grief, Pain and a Fragile Hope: Two years
after the horror of October 7 and two years into the devastation of the
war in Gaza, our collective grief and trauma remain palpable and raw. As
we mark this painful anniversary, voices from across the J Street
community are reflecting on what’s been lost, what’s been learned and what
it will take to build a different future.

* I Still Carry the Pain of That Day
“I have wrestled deeply with the moral conflict of this war – at times
torn between solidarity with Israelis seeking safety and Palestinians
yearning for the same. I have met extraordinary Israelis and
Palestinians who, despite carrying deep wounds, refuse to let their
pain erase their compassion. They hold fast to humanity, choosing
empathy over vengeance,” writes J Street Vice President and Chief of
Staff Adina Vogel-Ayalon. You can read the full piece [ [link removed] ]here >>

* Remembering the Victims, Fighting for the Hostages
Ilan Goldenberg sat down with Sharone Lifschitz, whose parents were
kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz; Elana Kaminka, whose son, Lt. Yannai
Kaminka, was killed by Hamas while fighting to protect his trainees;
and Emmanuelle Elbaz-Phelps, a journalist who has helped Israel reckon
with its trauma and the struggle to bring the hostages home. You can
watch this incredibly moving discussion [ [link removed] ]here >>

* Life & Death in Gaza Since October 7
J Street Chief of Staff Adina Vogel-Ayalon spoke with Kareem
Alsalqawi, a doctor working in Gaza’s hospitals, Angela Mattar, a
coexistence activist, and Khalil Sayegh, a Gaza-born policy expert to
reflect on the ongoing struggle for survival, justice and dignity in
Gaza. [ [link removed] ]Watch the full conversation here >>

👑 Join Nationwide No Kings Rallies Next Saturday: On October 18, millions
will gather in rallies across the country in the largest nationwide day of
protest so far this year, coming together to denounce Trump’s assault on
our democracy and stand up for our freedoms. J Street is proudly
mobilizing our community and standing up for our Jewish, democratic
values.

* [ [link removed] ]Find rally meetup locations >>
* [ [link removed] ]Download protest signs >>
* [ [link removed] ]RSVP to a No Kings rally >>

🎤 A Word About Christian Nationalism with Michelle Goldberg: On this
week’s Word on the Street, Jeremy sat down with New York Times columnist
Michelle Goldberg to discuss the rise of Christian Nationalism in
America. 

* “The way in which the United States approaches the Israel issue
through a lens of end times theology and Christian Zionism really is
part of the reason why our policy towards the Middle East has been so
warped,” says Goldberg. [ [link removed] ]Watch here >> 

🎟️ Reserve Your J Street 2026 Convention Ticket: From working to lock-in
this ceasefire to fighting for our democracy at the ballot box, J Street’s
work has never been more important. Our 2026 convention will feature
pro-peace leaders from Israel and Palestine, pro-democracy champions in
the House and Senate, and challengers looking to defeat MAGA incumbents up
and down the ballot. Don't miss out on the largest gathering of our
pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy movement next year! [ [link removed] ]Learn more
and register here >>

📖 This Week’s Must-Reads/Listens:

* [ [link removed] ]An Invitation to President Trump: Come to Gaza [Gift Link 🎁]
“The international community must invest not only in reconstruction
but also in reconciliation — in education, dialogue and joint
initiatives that rebuild trust after years of hatred. And we, the
Palestinian people, must refuse to surrender again to extremism or
despair. That means rejecting the politics of revenge, insisting on
unity through elections and building a culture of accountability,”
writes Samer Sinijlawi from East Jerusalem.

* [ [link removed] ]Can Trump Stop Netanyahu From Resuming the Gaza War After the
Hostages Are Freed?
"Will Trump still be there after stage one to prevent Netanyahu from
resuming the war? It's reasonable to think he will have lost interest
by that point. That's what Netanyahu is banking on," writes a
skeptical Raviv Drucker.

* [ [link removed] ]Israeli-Palestinian Peace Isn’t a Naive Ideal. Here’s Why I Have
Cautious Hope
“Kfar Aza will forever be a place of unbearable loss. But for me it
remains a reminder of what’s worth fighting for: the belief that peace
is not just possible, it’s necessary; the understanding that the lives
of Israelis and Palestinians are intertwined; and the memory that even
amid the ruins, there are people on both sides who refuse to give up,”
writes Jeremy Ben-Ami in The Guardian.

🗳️ Our Pro-Democracy To-Do List:

[16][ ]  NEW [ [link removed] ]Find a No Kings Rally to attend on October 18 >>

[18][ ]  [ [link removed] ]Tell Congress: Support the West Bank Violence Prevention Act
>>

[20][ ]  [ [link removed] ]Order J Street Merch >>

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

[24][ ] [ [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
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
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