[ ]J Street[ ]
This Week: Silence is Complicity 📢 | Peter Beinart and Jeremy Discuss
Gaza, Zionism and Jewish Identity 🎙️ | Senators Speak Out 🏛️ | What’s
Stopping a Ceasefire and Hostage Deal? 🚧 | Claim Your J Street Convention
Recap Discount 🏷️ | This Week’s Must-Reads 📖 | Our Pro-Democracy To-Do
List 🗳️ | And much more.

📢  Silence is Complicity: We’re at a point of moral reckoning. “In Gaza
this week, hundreds more Palestinians were killed, many of them children,
most in and around so-called humanitarian centers where inadequate amounts
of food are handed out,” J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami wrote. “If we
don’t stop the pursuit of a messianic agenda by an extremist fringe, not
only is the State of Israel at risk and the safety of Jews globally
endangered, the very soul of the Jewish people is at stake.” [ [link removed] ]✍️ Tell
Jewish leaders: We must speak out >>

* Over the next weeks, our movement will be engaging Members of Congress
and rallying in synagogues and in our communities across the country
to make clear that there is a moral imperative for our leaders to do
everything in their power to end the war, free the hostages and surge
aid. [ [link removed] ]Download posters and yard signs to share this essential
message >>

* If you haven’t already, [ [link removed] ]read and share Jeremy’s Substack post with
your network >>

🎙️  Peter Beinart and Jeremy Discuss Gaza, Zionism and Jewish Identity: In
the biggest Word on the Street Live event ever, Jeremy sat down with Peter
Beinart for a no-holds-barred conversation on the most pressing issues
facing the Jewish community. Together they dug into:

* Peter’s new book, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A
Reckoning
* The Netanyahu government’s flattening of Gaza and what it means for
our community;
* And their disagreements over Zionism and Israel’s future.

* [ [link removed] ]Watch and share here >>

[ [link removed] ]Click to watch Jeremy Ben-Ami and Peter Beinart in conversation

🏛️  Senators Speak Out: J Street has been on the front lines in urging
senators to press for action by the Trump Administration to stop the
policy of mass starvation, to stop the settler violence and to stop the
looming demolitions in Masafer Yatta. And senators are heeding the call
and leading with their pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-demoracy values. Just
this week, Senators took action with the following: 

* Supporting Surge of Aid Into Gaza: Ranking Members Jack Reed (D-RI),
Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mark Warner (D-VA), Chris
Coons (D-DE), and Brian Schatz (D-HI) released a joint statement
urging the Trump Administration to press Israeli Prime Minister
Netanyahu to immediately change course in its war in Gaza, including
by supporting, “a surge in humanitarian assistance that provides both
a sufficient amount of humanitarian aid and credible mechanisms for
effective distribution.” [ [link removed] ]Read more >>

* Calling for Independent Investigation of Killing of US Citizen in West
Bank: Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) led 28 Senators in calling upon
the Trump Administration to conduct a US-led independent investigation
into the killing of Saifullah Kamel Musallet writing, “The U.S.
government must conduct a credible and independent investigation into
his death and hold all perpetrators accountable. Protecting and
supporting U.S. citizens abroad is one of the foremost
responsibilities of the U.S. government. The United States Government
has failed to secure accountability for the killing of respected
Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, or any of the other
five American citizens – Omar Assad, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, Mohammad
Ahmed Mohammad Khdour, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, and Amer Mohammad Saada
Rabee – killed in the West Bank since January 2022.” [ [link removed] ]Read more >>

* Opposing Demolitions in Masafer Yatta: J Street specifically thanked
senators who spoke out to push back on the potential demolitions in
Masafer Yatta while also drawing attention to the dangerous push by
the Netanyahu government to advance settlement construction in E1: “We
commend Senators Merkley, Van Hollen, Sanders and Welch for their
[ [link removed] ]urgent statement shining a light on the looming demolitions in
Masafer Yatta. We urge more Members of Congress to join the growing
international opposition to the E1 settlement plans,” we wrote.
“Pressure from international allies and US lawmakers has succeeded in
halting demolitions and E1 plans before, and it is our deepest hope
that it can do so once again.” [ [link removed] ]Read more >>

* [ [link removed] ]✍️ Tell Congress to take further action on West Bank Settler
Violence >>

🚧  What’s Stopping a Ceasefire and Hostage Deal? In the last few weeks,
momentum for a ceasefire seems to have grown. Negotiators from both sides
arrived in Doha. The Trump Administration said a deal was “the utmost
priority.” Even Netanyahu signaled increasing openness. Yet no deal has
emerged and every day that passes, more Gazan civilians face starvation
and are killed trying to get aid, and Israeli hostages are placed in
greater and greater danger. 

* Key Barriers: J Street Policy Center Fellow Frank Lowenstein shared
his analysis of the key issues holding up negotiations. “A primary
sticking point has long been Hamas’ insistence that the 60-day
ceasefire will lead to a permanent end to the war, and Netanyahu’s
refusal to commit to an end to the war. While Trump has reportedly
assured Hamas that the Israelis will at least respect the 60-day pause
in fighting, they have been seeking guarantees that negotiations will
continue until an agreement is reached on ending the war in return for
releasing all remaining hostages. This is directly contrary to
Netanyahu’s insistence on resuming the war.” [ [link removed] ]Read more >>

* Netanyahu’s Ultra-Orthodox Conscription Crisis: J Street Policy Fellow
Yael Patir dives deep into the efforts to end ultra-Orthodox military
service exemptions and the political implications. “Last week,
Israel’s ultra-Orthodox parties withdrew from Prime Minister
Netanyahu’s government, triggering a deep coalition crisis. UTJ pulled
its ministers and Knesset members in protest of the government’s
failure to pass a law protecting yeshiva students. The crisis
escalated when Shas followed suit just days later, with its ministers
also resigning from the government, but not the coalition. Their
departure left Netanyahu’s coalition with only 50 of 120 members in
the Knesset – far short of a governing majority.” [ [link removed] ]Read more >>

🏷️   Claim Your J Street Convention Recap Discount: Friends, we’re
excited to be offering a special discount Convention to recap readers. Use
the code ‘weeklyrecap’ for 10% off any general admission ticket. Bringing
together renowned experts, student advocates, prominent
Israeli-Palestinian organizations and progressive leaders, this year’s J
Street Convention is an event you won’t want to miss. [ [link removed] ]Learn more and
register today >>

📖  This Week’s Must-Reads:

* [ [link removed] ]As a Zionist and Lifelong Advocate, I Believe Israel Has Gone Too
Far
Rabbi Doug Kahn writes in The Jewish News of Northern California,
"Withholding humanitarian aid (food, water, medicine and electricity)
through a collective punishment policy crosses a moral boundary. Not
providing urgently needed medical equipment, especially for children
who have been severely injured or who need life-saving supplies
because of illness, cannot be justified."

* [ [link removed] ]Is It Important to Call Israel's Carnage in Gaza 'Genocide'? 
Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin writes in Haaretz, "If the word genocide is too
troubling for you personally, move on – focus instead on the
relentless investigations by Haaretz's Nir Hasson, which answer
questions like why so many Gazans are getting shot and killed trying
to reach food centers, and how many are actually dying? Look at the
pictures of starving children and stop worrying about what to call it:
Focus instead on ending the war. I understand Palestinians who feel
abandoned by those unwilling to use the term. But right now, the
verbal litmus test is less important than rallying all people who
support an end to this war, using whatever language they are capable
of employing."

* [ [link removed] ]Why American Jews No Longer Understand One Another
Ezra Klein writes in The New York Times, “What many young Jews see is
what Olmert sees and they want no part of it. Are they to defend war
crimes? Are they to defend, or even accept, the use of mass starvation
as a tool of war? Are they to believe in equality everywhere but in
the state that is meant to be their spiritual home? There are many who
bristled at the term 'genocide' a year ago but have come to accept it
now. What other Jews see is a world that cares little for Jewish life
and has always sought Israel’s destruction."

* [ [link removed] ]Biden’s Team Lied About Gaza. It’s Time to Hold Them Accountable
Matt Duss writes in Foreign Policy, "But as of now, I don’t see them
speaking up about it. With very few exceptions – such as Andrew
Miller, the former deputy assistant secretary of state for
Israeli-Palestinian affairs, and (J Street Chief Policy Officer) Ilan
Goldenberg, a former White House special advisor – they aren’t
engaging in any real public introspection, let alone any that grapples
with the enormity of the atrocities that the Biden administration
helped facilitate and the likely consequences for the country and the
world, which are quite dire."

🗳️  Our Pro-Democracy To-Do List:

[18][ ]  [ [link removed] ]Tell Congress to take action on settler violence >>

[20][ ]  [ [link removed] ]American Jews say: Bring them home. End the war >>

[22][ ]  [ [link removed] ]Download posters or yard signs to amplify our message >>

[24][ ]  [ [link removed] ]Tell Netanyahu to stop blocking aid >>

[26][ ]  [ [link removed] ]Call your Member of Congress and tell them you oppose the
Gaza war >>

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

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

* Use code ‘weeklyrecap’ for 10% off any general admission ticket!



[ [link removed] ]Check out and share the regularly updated Pro-Democracy To-Do List on
our website >>

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J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy
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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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