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This week: Democrats and Republicans Unite Against Annexation 🇺🇸 | This
week’s analysis on Word on the Street 🚧 | J Street’s Policy Center on
Implementing the Gaza Ceasefire 📝 | Standing up to Bigotry in Politics 🛑 |
We Were Strangers Too 🌎 | This Week’s Must-Reads/Listens 📖 | Our
Pro-Democracy To-Do List 🗳️ | And much more.

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🇺🇸 Democrats and Republicans Unite Against Annexation: In a rare moment of
bipartisanship, 46 Democratic senators – along with President Trump, Vice
President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio – came out in strong
opposition to the the potential Israeli annexation of the West Bank, with
the President reportedly saying that Israel would “lose all support” if it
pursued annexation. 

* “This establishes a rare bipartisan consensus that annexation harms US
foreign policy interests by undermining the Gaza ceasefire and
threatening the possibility of a future peace between Israelis,
Palestinians and the rest of the Arab world,” said J Street Chief
Policy Officer Ilan Goldenberg. [ [link removed] ]Read the full statement here >>

* “This is a tremendous show of unity across the Democratic caucus.
Together, Democrats are sending a clear message to extremists in the
Israeli government: If they think they can get away with annexation
without consequences, it’s time to think again,” wrote J Street
President Jeremy Ben-Ami in response to the Senate letter opposing
annexation. [ [link removed] ]Read more >>

🚧 What Comes Next? This Week’s Analysis onWord on the Street: J Street
publishes commentary, video conversations and policy pieces on our
Substack throughout the week. [ [link removed] ]Subscribe here >>

* There Is No Return to “Normal”:Israel’s global standing has undeniably
been tarnished by its conduct in Gaza over the past two years. Many
traditional allies are revisiting their relationships with Israel, and
support for Israel among young American Jews is plummeting.

“Permanent rule over millions of Palestinians without equal rights is
not a formula for rebuilding the trust that once underpinned what was
called an 'unbreakable' US–Israel relationship. That bond is being
shredded before our eyes. Restoring it will require fundamental policy
change – real seriousness of purpose to end the conflict,” writes
Jeremy Ben-Ami. [ [link removed] ]Read more >>

* How to Disarm Hamas: Hamas will not disarm itself. The only way to
truly neutralize it is by showing Palestinians in Gaza that someone
other than Hamas can protect and govern them. Ilan Goldenberg weighed
in on a viable path to achieving this:

“It begins with security. Counterinsurgency 101 teaches that the
population sides with whoever can provide basic safety and order. That
requires Palestinian forces on the ground who are not affiliated with
Hamas but have credibility with the local population. The most
realistic option is to use the model of the Palestinian Authority
security forces – not because they’re ideal, but because they’re the
only existing, semi-legitimate structure capable of the job.” [ [link removed] ]Read
the full piece here >>

* Can Trump’s Peace Plan Survive Reality? Donald Trump’s peace plan for
the Middle East is ambitious – but will it actually happen? Ilan
discussed the possibility of reaching Phase 2 and implementing an
international security force in Gaza with Samantha Sutton – a Middle
East insider who’s spent over a decade shaping US-Israel policy and
leading delicate regional negotiations.

“I think the role that the PA plays in all this is critical to the
vision that you just laid out. And if the Israelis are still saying
the PA can't be there, I just – I find it hard to believe that we will
be able to build an entity that's a completely new entity. So, I think
that the PA will have to be a part of this, and the PA security forces
and the PA civil administration that is already there,” says Sutton.
[ [link removed] ]Listen to the full conversation here >>

📝 J Street’s Policy Center on Implementing the Gaza Ceasefire: As senior
Trump Administration officials continue shuttling to Israel to ensure the
Gaza ceasefire holds and advances to its next phase, the J Street Policy
Center published three new analyses on what it will take for the agreement
to succeed. 

* [ [link removed] ]Sidelining Hamas by Beginning Phase II Implementation
J Street Policy Fellow Frank Lowenstein and Policy Analyst Liam Hamama
write, “Deploying a Palestinian technocratic government, Palestinian
police force and the [International Stabilization Force] would
significantly reduce Hamas’ influence, make a return to war less
likely and lay the groundwork for progress on the most difficult
issues.”

* [ [link removed] ]Facilitating Gaza’s Humanitarian Recovery
J Street Policy Fellow Larry Garber, former head of the USAID/West
Bank-Gaza mission, writes, “Gaza remains in a humanitarian crisis
despite the relief provided by the October ceasefire. Immediate,
coordinated action through a joint US–UN–Israeli humanitarian
operations center is needed to deliver aid, remove rubble and rebuild
critical infrastructure.”

* [ [link removed] ]The Key Role of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey
J Street Policy Fellow Jen Gavito, former Acting Principal Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, writes, “The
specific duties of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey (alongside the US) as
guarantors of the agreement include holding the parties accountable,
monitoring compliance, resolving disputes and enforcing the agreement.
With differing objectives and strategic priorities, there is some risk
of divergence among them.”

🛑 Standing up to Bigotry in Politics: J Street has long held that
weaponizing the threat of antisemitism to stigmatize those with whom we
disagree does nothing to protect Jews or Israel’s future and, in fact,
often harms both. 

* In light of recent Islamophobic comments in the NYC mayoral race, J
Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami wrote, “When politicians weaponize
fear and identity to win votes, it cheapens our politics, divides our
communities and endangers us all – Jews, Muslims and every minority.
These tactics don’t just cross a political line – they cross a moral
one. We urge former Governor Cuomo to apologize for his remarks and
call on all community leaders to keep the focus of this campaign on
issues, not identity.” [ [link removed] ]Read the full statement here >>

🌎 We Were Strangers Too: J Street National Director of Communal Relations
Sam Berkman sat down with Naomi Steinberg, Vice President of Policy and
Advocacy at HIAS, to discuss how Jewish values compel us to stand up for
immigrants. Naomi delved into the intersection of Jewish and immigrant
safety, and how HIAS is meeting this current political moment.

* “The core of who we are as a country in terms of welcoming refugees
and being a safe place for asylum seekers has been abandoned and
replaced with people who believe that refugee resettlement and asylum
seekers and other immigrants are coming as part of this grand plot to
replace white Christians. It is dangerous.” [ [link removed] ]Watch the full webinar
here >> 

📖 This Week’s Must-Reads/Listens:

* [ [link removed] ]The Ceasefire Created Two Gazas. One Will Consume the Other.
Moumen Al-Natour writes in The Washington Post, "On one side is a Gaza
that is desperate for Trump’s plan to succeed; on the other is a Gaza
that is being pulled back into the abyss once again. It is impossible
for these two Gazas to exist simultaneously for more than a moment in
time, and soon enough one will consume the other."

* [ [link removed] ]When Will the Lives, and Deaths, of Palestinian Citizens of Israel
Actually Matter?
Nagham Zbeedat writes in Haaretz, "We live in fear, and the state
treats it like background noise. This is not an isolated story. It's a
pattern. Since 2018, crime in Arab towns inside Israel has continued
to grow more brazen and more deadly, yet the police response remains
dangerously apathetic. Arab citizens make up just over one-fifth of
the population but the majority of murder victims."

* [ [link removed] ]Listen: A Former Republican Explores the Meaning of “Pro-Israel”
in 2025
Jeremy and Ilan sat down with Joe Walsh, a former Tea Party
Congressman who has since begun to align himself with the Democratic
Party amidst Donald Trump’s unprecedented attacks on democracy. In
discussing Trump’s role in achieving a ceasefire and peace deal
between Israel and Hamas, Walsh says, “It seems like this could have
been on the table a year ago and Netanyahu and Trump didn't want to do
it.”

* [ [link removed] ]Watch: Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff on 60 Minutes
“The biggest message that we've tried to convey to the Israeli
leadership now is that – now that the war is over – if you want to
integrate Israel with the broader Middle East, you have to find a way
to help the Palestinian people thrive and do better,” Kushner told CBS
News reporter Lesley Stahl.

🗳️ Our Pro-Democracy To-Do List:

[17][ ]  [ [link removed] ]NEW Tell Congress: No Excuses. Aid Must Flow Freely. >>

[19][ ]  [ [link removed] ]NEW Give Voice to Our Community: No Return to Gaza War >>

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

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

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

[27][ ] [ [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
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.



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