[ [link removed] ] [ [link removed] ]J Street[ [link removed] ]
This week: J Street's Political Fight in 2026 📆 | Word on the Street 🚧 |
Orwellian Response to ICE Shooting Threatens Our Democracy ⚠️ | Standing
with Protestors in Iran 🗣️ | Save Your Seat at the J Street 2026
Convention 🎟️ | This Week’s Must-Reads/Listens 📖 | Our Pro-Democracy To-Do
List 🗳️ | And much more.

📆 J Street’s Political Fight in 2026: J Street Senior Vice President and
Chief Policy Officer Ilan Goldenberg sat down with J Street Vice President
of Government Affairs Hannah Morris and Vice President of Political and
Digital Strategy Tali deGroot to discuss how J Street is taking on this
year’s Democratic primaries, midterm elections and legislative battles.

[ [link removed] ]ALT TEXT FOR IMAGE

* What a Fraying Republican Coalition Could Mean: “Dems are seeing the
cracks happening within the Republican base on a variety of issues –
you see that with Marjorie Taylor Greene deciding to resign from
Congress early and going scorched earth on that. So, that will be an
interesting dynamic to watch and it certainly gives Democrats a chance
with the disenchanted voters,” Hannah said of opportunities for
Democratic progress in 2026.

* The Gaza War and the Midterm Elections: “After two plus years of
horrific conditions in Gaza and the spotlight that was on that on
social media and in the news, Democratic voters – even if this isn't
the issue that they're voting on – can’t accept a Democratic candidate
who doesn't have some nuance on how the American government can
support justice and security for Palestinians.

The major corrupting force on this issue is the enormous amount of
political resources that AIPAC brings to bear every cycle. It's hard
for candidates to square the political risks of taking positions that
run the ire of these organizations. It's so important that J Street
continues to grow and that candidates that we support get serious
backing,” Tali said. [ [link removed] ]Watch the full conversation here >>

🚧 Word on the Street: J Street publishes commentary, video conversations
and policy pieces on our Substack throughout the week. [ [link removed] ]Subscribe here
>>

* [ [link removed] ]The Democratic National Security Community Is Beginning to Debate
the US-Israel Relationship
This week, Ilan Goldenberg unpacked three different visions for the
US-Israel relationship from prominent national security experts. Once
reluctant to question US-Israel policy, he writes that the security
community’s approach to this issue is beginning to diverge
drastically.

“Views on the US response to October 7 and the war in Gaza are sharply
divided, and it is far easier to coalesce around issues where there is
broad consensus – and opposition to Donald Trump – than to engage a
subject this sensitive and contentious. But that silence is breaking.

The bottom line is that the era of pretending that the US–Israel
relationship can be managed through personal trust, quiet persuasion,
and unlimited support is over [...] A strategy grounded in normal
alliance politics – cooperation where interests align and consequences
where they don’t – is the best way to protect US interests,” Ilan
wrote. [ [link removed] ]Read the full piece here >>

⚠️ Orwellian Response to ICE Shooting Threatens Our Democracy: This week,
federal agents shot and killed Minneapolis mother Renee Nicole Good
– preventing medical professionals from reaching the scene as
administration officials blatantly lied about the circumstances of the
shooting. The shooting, and its response mark a profoundly dark moment for
American democracy.

* “The Trump administration’s false narrative about this week’s
shooting, and the demonization of the victim, are only part of a
bigger lie. It wants the American public to believe that ICE’s heavily
militarized crackdown across this country is an effort to keep cities
like Minneapolis safe. It is not. It is about vilifying not just
immigrants, but all who welcome them and their contributions to our
communities,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey wrote in the [ [link removed] ]New York
Times. 

* “This isn’t the first killing by ICE, and it won’t be the last,” wrote
Natasha Lennard in The Intercept. “Given ICE’s violent,
impunity-drenched core, at a moment when the Trump regime is leaning
heavily into a vision of dominance grounded in aggression and
lawlessness, such a killing was all but inevitable.” [ [link removed] ]Read more >>

🗣️ Standing with Protestors in Iran: J Street stands in solidarity with
the thousands of brave Iranians who have taken to the streets in recent
days to protest the Iranian regime and demand their rights. No matter how
these events continue to unfold, they will have profound implications for
the future of Iran and the Middle East. Be on the lookout for programming
from our Policy Center next week on where things go from here.

🎟️ Save Your Seat at the J Street 2026 Convention: From working to press
the ceasefire forward to defending 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:

* [ [link removed] ]Is Mamdani Bad or Good for Jews? Here’s How Not to Tell
"What if we asked practical, rather than symbolic, questions in
response to [Mamdani's] day one actions? Not 'how outraged should we
be by the revocation of the IHRA definition?' but 'will that
revocation actually change how safe Jews are?' Or: What will the
functions of the Office to Combat Antisemitism actually look like
under Mamdani? How will the office track antisemitism?" Emily Tamkin
writes in The Forward.

* [ [link removed] ]Is Naftali Bennett Really Liberal Israel's Answer to Netanyahu?
"Bennett has become the darling of the liberal camp, but let there be
no mistake: When he speaks of a 'Zionist coalition' without Arabs or
ultra-Orthodox parties, numbering 90 members, it implicitly includes
Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit and Smotrich's Religious Zionism," Haaretz
editor-in-chief Aluf Benn writes.

* [ [link removed] ]What Peaceniks Like Me Get Wrong About Peace
"It’s a brutal fact but a fact all the same: Credibility accrues to
those who stood at the barricades, who risked their lives for the
cause, and—sorry to say it, but this is the world as it is—who
committed or at least condoned acts of violence. [...] Marwan
Barghouti stands to be a leader of vision, one with credibility among
his own people, and among his adversaries. Both Israelis and
Palestinians have an interest in having him take a seat at the
negotiating table," Bono, the lead singer of Irish rock band U2 writes
in The Atlantic.

🗳️ Our Pro-Democracy To-Do List:

[12][ ]  [ [link removed] ]NEW: Tell Congress: Support the Antisemitism Response and
Prevention Act >> >>

[14][ ]  [ [link removed] ]Tell Washington: We Cannot Look Away from Gaza >>

[16][ ]  [ [link removed] ]Tell President Herzog: Don't Pardon Netanyahu >>

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

[20][ ]  [ [link removed] ]Tell Congress: Stop Demolitions in Umm al-Khair >>

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

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

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

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

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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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