Save Your Seat at the J Street 2026 Convention 🎟️ | Saying 'NOPE' to Authoritarianism 🏛️ | The Rabbis Taking on ICE 🕍 | 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 this year! Learn more and register here >>
Already registered? Help bring more supporters to Convention with our social media toolkit >>
🏛️ Saying ‘NOPE’ to Authoritarianism: With escalating force, President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi have weaponized the Justice Department to pursue a self-interested, corrupt political agenda, giving pardons to right-wing allies while bending the media, universities and law firms to their will. This week, J Street leaders Senator Chris Murphy and Congressman Jason Crow introduced the No Political Enemies (NOPE) Act in response to rising attacks on our democratic freedoms.
- “This pro-democracy legislation gives Americans real legal tools to defend their rights when politically targeted, and to hold officials directly accountable for abuses of power,” J Street Chief Development Officer Adee Telem wrote in an email to supporters.
✍️ Tell Congress: Support The NOPE Act Now ✍️
Keep an eye on your email for next steps for contacting your Members of Congress
🕍 The Rabbis Taking on ICE: On this week’s Word on the Street Live, J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami and Chief Policy Officer Ilan Goldenberg were joined by Rabbis Sharon Kleinbaum and Tamar Magill-Grimm – two rabbis at the frontline of the fight against ICE – for a powerful conversation on how they’re supporting communities being targeted by ICE and what this moment demands of Jewish leaders.
- “Do not oppress the stranger, love the stranger and the heart of the stranger. It's all in [the Torah], right? That's the most obvious go-to for where our moral obligation in this moment comes from,” Rabbi Magill-Grimm told Ilan and Jeremy. Watch the full conversation here >>
- J Street is proud to be partnering with over 30 pro-peace, pro-democracy organizations for a Jews Against ICE protest in Washington, DC on February 11. Grounded in core Jewish values, this march makes clear that there is broad Jewish communal consensus rejecting policies that dehumanize our neighbors. Learn more and register here >>
🚧 Word on the Street: J Street publishes commentary, video conversations and policy pieces on our Substack throughout the week. Subscribe here >>
- A Rupture, Not a Transition: Rethinking the US-Israel Relationship
This week, Jeremy Ben-Ami examines Israel’s status as a military and economic power and considers the viability of continuing American military assistance amid its evolving relationship with Israel:
"While many Jewish Americans still hope – and fight – for the deeply meaningful relationship on which they were raised, it is, sadly, a framework that no longer survives contact with reality. The U.S.-Israel relationship has been profoundly damaged by an Israeli government that has abandoned any serious effort to resolve the conflict with the Palestinian people and instead embraces permanent occupation, annexation, and domination," he writes. Read the full piece here >>
- When Comparisons Hurt – And Why We Still Have to Make Them
While ICE agents abduct families and sow fear among communities, violent Israeli settlers continue to terrorize Palestinians who have lived there for generations. Ilan Goldenberg considers the disturbing similarities – and important differences – between these events.
“Americans have watched ICE and DHS violate court orders and shred the rule of law to pursue ideological goals. In Israel, a recent documentary on public television laid bare how senior ministers have deliberately built parallel bureaucratic systems to seize control over the West Bank – removing authority from the IDF and consolidating it in the hands of ideologues, while using loopholes and, in many cases, breaking Israeli law,” he writes. Read the full piece 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.
- Qatargate: Explaining Israel's Wartime Foreign Influence Scandal
The Qatargate scandal – alleging that Qatar paid senior Netanyahu advisors to elevate pro-Qatari narratives in an effort to bolster the Gulf state’s image as a mediator in the hostage negotiations – continues to plague Prime Minister Netanyahu. In a new issue brief for the J Street Policy Center, Policy Fellow Yael Patir explains the scandal and its implications for Israel’s politics and public opinion:
“Qatargate points to a longer-term, gradual weakening of institutional and legal guardrails over the past decade, a process that has reshaped how power is exercised at the core of the Israeli government. Whether or not indictments are ultimately filed, Qatargate has already become a defining episode in Israel’s ongoing struggle and deep polarization over accountability, governance, and national security,” the policy piece explains. Read more >>
🗓️ 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. 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 neighbors facing extreme dehumanization under the Trump Administration. Find out how you can participate >>
📖 This Week’s Must-Reads/Listens:
- Senator Cassidy’s IHRA Crusade Is a Political Stunt, Not a Plan to Protect Jews
"Senator Cassidy’s letter asks Mayor Mamdani many questions, but here is one question the senator must answer himself: What tangible action has he taken—beyond letters and press releases—to make Jewish Americans safer? Until he can answer that honestly, we can safely conclude that his latest oversight crusade is exactly what it appears to be: a bad-faith, cynical political exercise that exploits Jewish concerns over antisemitism, while doing nothing to address them," Vice President of Government Relations at the Nexus Project Kevin Rachlin writes in Times of Israel.
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