[ [link removed] ] [ [link removed] ]J Street[ [link removed] ]
This week: Save Your Seat at the J Street 2026 Convention 🎟️ | Resistance
and Repression in Iran ✊ | Moving to Phase 2 and Protecting Aid 📢 | Word
on the Street 🚧 | This Week from the Policy Center 📝 | Mark Your Calendars
for Solidarity Shabbats 🗓️ | This Week’s Must-Reads/Listens 📖 | Our
Pro-Democracy To-Do List 🗳️ | And much more.

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

✊ Resistance and Repression in Iran: This past week, thousands of brave
Iranians took to the streets to protest the Iranian regime and demand
civil and human rights. In its increasingly vulnerable state, the regime
responded with a brutal crackdown that killed at least 3,000 – though the
true death toll is unclear.

* "We stand unequivocally with the Iranian people in their demand for
human rights, democracy and an end to the suffering imposed by a
brutal and unaccountable regime. Iran’s government must immediately
halt this crackdown and respect the fundamental freedoms of its
citizens,” J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami said in a [ [link removed] ]press
release.

* [ [link removed] ][Watch] Is Iran’s Regime About to Fall?
J Street Chief Policy Officer Ilan Goldenberg spoke to Nate Swanson
and Negar Mortazavi, two leading Iran policy experts, about the
trajectory of the Iranian regime and the United States’ threats to
intervene.

“[The regime] is dealing with a serious legitimacy crisis, that’s why
you see people pour to the street and protests spread like wildfire.
But we haven’t seen that legitimacy crisis turn into an existential
crisis for the regime,” Negar said. [ [link removed] ]Watch the full briefing here >>

📢 Moving to Phase 2 and Protecting Aid: This week, US Special Envoy Steve
Witkoff announced the next steps of Phase Two of the Gaza ceasefire,
laying the grounds for a transitional governing authority and the
reconstruction of Gaza. Despite the progress in negotiations, humanitarian
groups are still struggling to operate and get aid into the enclave amid
sabotage attempts both by private citizens and by the Israeli government. 

* “Moving from ceasefire to durable calm requires real commitments from
all parties: The Israeli government, regional and Palestinian actors
and the international community. This means prioritizing civilian
protection, ensuring the steady flow of humanitarian aid and
establishing accountable governance and security arrangements that can
hold over time and create a viable alternative to Hamas,” Jeremy
Ben-Ami said. [ [link removed] ]Read the full statement here >>

* Supporting the AWARE Act: J Street is proud to back Senator Ron
Wyden’s Accountability for Withholding Aid and Relief Essentials
(AWARE) Act, which would impose targeted sanctions on government
officials who obstruct humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza and other
conflict zones.

“By authorizing targeted sanctions on government officials who
restrict humanitarian assistance, the AWARE Act provides an urgently
needed tool to get the Israeli government to change course. With
Israel set to bar dozens of international NGOs from providing
life-saving services inside Gaza, this bill sends a clear message that
government officials will no longer be allowed to inhibit the flow of
aid with impunity,” J Street Vice President of Government Affairs
Hannah Morris said in a statement about the legislation. [ [link removed] ]Read more
>>

[ [link removed] ]✍️Tell Your Senator: Support the AWARE Act ✍️ 

🚧 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] ]Are We Really Safer in a World Where Might Makes Right?
Amid the US invasion of Venezuela and the erosion of democratic norms
globally, Jeremy Ben-Ami explored the consequences of living by the
sword and argued that history warns against this doctrine:

“In Israel, Netanyahu may aspire for Israel to become a kind of
‘Sparta,’ but history offers little reason to admire the model. While
Sparta was feared, it proved brittle, morally hollow, and ultimately
unsustainable. It left no legacy worth emulating.”

“Globally, we must reject the idea that seizing land by force, ruling
indefinitely over another people, and discarding international norms
makes us safer.”

* [ [link removed] ]A Major Earthquake in the US-Israel Security Relationship
Last week, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Senator Lindsey Graham made
bombshell statements about reducing Israel’s dependence on US
assistance. In this week’s Substack post, Ilan Goldenberg examined
what these statements actually mean for the future of foreign military
financing:

“Treating Israel like a normal, wealthy ally isn’t anti-Israel. It’s
actually what we do with other capable partners who don’t need
permanent subsidies to defend themselves.”

“Israel will still have a large arsenal of American weapons. It will
still be buying American weapons. That means the debates about the use
of American weapons in Gaza and the West Bank aren’t going away.”

* [ [link removed] ][Watch] What It Looks Like to Engage Civilly When We Disagree
Jeremy and Ilan sat down with Daniel Gordis, an American-Israeli
author on Zionism and contemporary Israel, for a productive dialogue
on Israeli-Palestinian leadership and the different lived realities of
American Jews and Israelis. [ [link removed] ]Watch the full conversation here >>

📝 This Week from the Policy Center: J Street’s Policy Center publishes
timely analyses of policy priorities and the diplomatic role the US plays
in the Middle East.

* [ [link removed] ]Progress and Challenges on Israel's Northern Borders: Lebanon and
Syria in 2026
J Street Policy Center Contributing Expert Jennifer Gavito and J
Street Policy and Research Coordinator Avraham Spraragen analyze
Hezbollah’s disarmament under the new Lebanese government, Syrian
military integration and the continued military confrontations between
Israel and its two neighbors to the north. As Israel negotiates with
Syria and Lebanon for the first time in decades, Jen and Avraham also
lay out policy recommendations for American and Israeli governments to
seize this historic opportunity.

“After decades of troubled relations along the Lebanese and Syrian
borders, unfolding developments, carefully managed, could offer Israel
an unprecedented opportunity for improved relationships with these key
neighbors and fundamentally improve its long-term security and
stability. While true normalization remains off on the horizon, this
year could mark initial steps towards greater joint prosperity for all
parties.” [ [link removed] ]Read the full piece here >>

🗓️ Mark Your Calendars for Solidarity Shabbats: Take a stand as Trump
endangers the communities we care for most, and join J Street in standing
shoulder to shoulder with the National Council of Jewish Women and HIAS,
two organizations doing incredible work to live out our Jewish and
democratic values.

* Get involved with Repro Shabbat on February 13-14: Host your own
gathering or join a pre-planned event in your community. Find what
suits you and honor the Jewish value of reproductive freedom.
[ [link removed] ]Learn more from NCJW >>

* One month later, join us for Refugee Shabbat on March 13-14: Register
to join hundreds of Jewish communities in standing up for our
immigrant and refugee friends and neighbors, especially under extreme
dehumanization under the Trump Administration. [ [link removed] ]Find out how you
can participate >>

📖 This Week’s Must-Reads/Listens:

* [ [link removed] ]Does Anyone Care About the Crisis in Israel's Arab Communities?
"Instead of acting to increase the personal security of all Israelis
and to eradicate crime, Itamar Ben-Gvir is intentionally neglecting
the Arab communities. The Kahanist minister uses his authority,
taxpayers' money and law enforcement to provoke Israel's Arab
communities, as part of a political strategy that legitimizes state
violence against them," writes the Haaretz Editorial Board.

* [ [link removed] ]In Trump’s ‘Donroe Doctrine,’ Echoes of Nazi Justifications for
Aggression
"During the first year of Trump’s second term, the 47th president of
the United States attempted his own version of what Germans call
Gleichschaltung — the Nazis’ forced alignment of institutions and
society with Hitler’s will. Trump moved to bend the federal
bureaucracy, the intelligence services, the military chain of command,
and the civil service into a single, obedient apparatus,” Terrence
Petty writes in The Forward.

* [ [link removed] ]It Is Time to Take Responsibility for Our Image Rather Than Blame
Everybody Else
“It’s better for us to learn to confront criticism and improve our
policies instead of blaming others or weaponizing antisemitism,” J
Street Israel Executive Director Nadav Tamir writes in Times of
Israel.

🗳️ Our Pro-Democracy To-Do List:

[20][ ]  [ [link removed] ]NEW: Tell The Senate: No More Blocking Life Saving Aid >>

[22][ ]  [ [link removed] ]NEW: [ [link removed] ]Tell Congress: Don’t Let Trump Invoke the
Insurrection Act >> 

[25][ ]  [ [link removed] ]NEW: [ [link removed] ]198 Methods of Nonviolent Action to Fight
Authoritarianism >> 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[42][ ]  [ [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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