This Week: Jewish Leaders Speak Out 📣 | Pressure Builds in Washington 🏛️ | J Street Mourns Killing of Palestinian Activist Awdah Hathaleen 🕯️ | Public Calls, Rallies and Conversations 🎥 | J Street Welcomes French and British Pledges to Recognize Palestinian Statehood 🇵🇸 | This Week’s Must-Reads 📖 | Our Pro-Democracy To-Do List 🗳️ | And much more.

Friends, 

It feels as if a dam is beginning to break. 

Since we wrote our call to action last week, we’ve seen a flurry of initiatives in Congress and a growing number of influential people and organizations are speaking out against the horror in Gaza and the need to stop mass starvation and seal a war-ending hostage deal. 

📣 Jewish Leaders Speak Out: In recent days, more and more Jewish leaders and institutions are calling for an end to the war, a hostage deal and a surge of aid to Gaza.

• The Reform Movement – the largest Jewish denomination in America – released a powerful statement saying that “denying basic humanitarian aid crosses a moral line.”
  
  
• The Conservative/Masorti Movement called for “urgent action to alleviate civilian suffering and ensure aid delivery, as leaders continue to focus on returning the hostages and ending this war.”
  
  
• Over 1,000 rabbis from around the world released an open letter calling for Netanyahu to “stop at once the use and threat of starvation as a weapon of war.” (ask your rabbi to sign it here)
  
  
• The National Council of Jewish Women, Jewish Democratic Council of America and Israel Policy Forum have also spoken out. 

We have to keep the momentum going. Share our petition here >>

🏛️ Pressure Builds in Washington: We’re seeing a really significant shift in DC as the pressure mounts to end this horrific war, get hostages home and surge aid into Gaza.

• Senators Vote on Joint Resolution of Disapproval: An unprecedented majority of Democratic senators voted to disapprove of two offensive weapons transfers, sending a strong message of opposition to the Netanyahu government.
  
  
• The fact that 27 senators – all long-time supporters of Israel – took such a tough vote is a sobering and significant milestone. These were votes of courage and conscience which have already prompted right-wing attacks and disinformation. J Street is committed to defending and supporting these Senators going forward. Read more >>

• Overwhelming Majority of Senate Democrats Join Gaza Outcry: A total of 44 Senate Democrats, led by Senators Adam Schiff, Brian Schatz, Jacky Rosen, and Leader Chuck Schumer – have called for urgent US pressure to end the war, surge aid into Gaza, get hostages out and draw a red line against forced displacement. 

• House and Senate Democrats Demand Action on Humanitarian Aid: J Street champions in the House and Senate have led demands for action on humanitarian aid, including calling for funding to be restored to international aid agencies and requesting investigations into the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. 

• West Bank Violence Prevention Act Reaches 48 Cosponsors: J Street is continuing to urge representatives to support the legislation to codify Biden-era sanctions and provide a measure of justice and deterrence in the West Bank. Tell Congress to act on West Bank settler violence >>
  

🕯️ J Street Mourns Killing of Palestinian Activist Awdah Hathaleen: On Monday, we received the tragic news that Palestinian peace activist Awdah Hathaleen was killed by extremist settler Yinon Levi. Awdah was a dear friend and partner to many in the J Street community and many of us – including the Members of Congress and staff we bring to the region – have visited Awdah and his community, Umm al-Khair.

• “This violence is not random. It is the tragic result of an Israeli government that enables and empowers violent settler extremists and refuses to hold perpetrators accountable,” we wrote. “Levi was previously sanctioned by the United States under the Biden Administration for his role in attacks against Palestinians. On the very first day of his second term, President Trump made the reckless decision to revoke sanctions on violent settlers, including Levi.” Read our full statement >>

🎥 Public Calls, Rallies and Conversations:

• National Mobilization Call: End The Gaza War: On Thursday, more than 1,000 of our supporters joined us for a mobilization call with leaders from the Reform Movement, Reconstructing Judaism, UnXeptable, T’ruah, Shalom Hartman Institute, Israel Policy Forum, New Jewish Narrative, New Israel Fund and Partners for Progressive Israel. Watch here >>

• Israeli Voices Against the War: On Tuesday we hosted a call with Israeli anti-war advocates including a hostage family member, a combat soldier refusing to return to serve in Gaza and a peace advocate rallying for coexistence. Watch now >>

• Jeremy Joins Mehdi Hasan and Tommy Vietor: In a wide ranging conversation hosted by Crooked Media, Jeremy and Mehdi dove into some of the most contested questions facing the Democratic party: Should the US cut off military aid to Israel? Should Democrats support Palestinian statehood? And can the party hold together a coalition that includes both progressive critics of Israel and liberal Zionists? Watch now >>

• Jeremy on The Left Hook: J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami and Haris Tarin, the VP of MPAC, joined The Left Hook host Wajahat Ali, to discuss their joint statement and standing against Israel’s actions in Gaza.Watch here >>

• Jen Rubin on Gaza and the Fight for Democracy: J Street Chief Policy Officer Ilan Goldenberg sat down with Jennifer Rubin for this week's Word on the Street Live. They discussed how the dam is breaking in the political world and Jewish community over the suffering of innocents. Watch here >>

🇵🇸  J Street Welcomes French and British Pledges to Recognize Palestinian Statehood: “Importantly, as both France and the UK have made clear, Hamas must not govern Gaza after the war. At the same time, by anchoring this decision within a broader regional and diplomatic strategy, France and the United Kingdom are also sending a message to the government and people of Israel that the only path toward regional integration is through the 23-State solution that J Street has long endorsed – and not through endless war and mass displacement.” Read more >>

📖 This Week’s Must-Reads:

• J Street and Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) Say “Enough”
  J Street and MPAC wrote, “As we join together from different faiths and backgrounds, we are united by a moral imperative to protect innocent lives. As advocates for our respective communities, and as Americans concerned about global stability and the integrity of US foreign policy, we cannot remain silent in the face of mass suffering.”
  
  
• Israel Has the Power to End the War in Gaza and It Must
  Ilan Goldenberg debunks three myths used to justify the Gaza war: “1. The Israeli government has done all it can in ceasefire/hostage negotiations and the problem lies exclusively with Hamas; 2. The humanitarian crisis is primarily due to Hamas diversion of aid and UN refusal to deliver aid; and 3. Military operations must continue in order to defeat Hamas.”

• The Violent Gaza-ification of the West Bank
  Nimrod Novik, a former advisor to Shimon Peres, writes in Time, "Israeli extremists and radicalized Palestinians feed on each other, using each other to justify violence, killing innocents, vandalizing property, and risking a major conflagration in the process."

• Answering Ezra Klein’s Challenge: Can Zionism and Liberalism Be Reconciled?
  Jeremy Ben-Ami writes on Substack, "Jews all over the world – in Israel, the US and globally – will determine whether liberalism and Zionism are ultimately reconcilable. It’s on us to ensure that Bibi-ism, Ben Gvir-ism and Smotrich-ism do not define Zionism or – god forbid - 21st century Jewish identity.

• Is Starvation in Gaza Really Israel’s Fault? The Facts Are Clear,
  Emily Tamkin writes in The Forward, “It is not a defense of Hamas, an extremist and exploitative organization that has held dozens of innocent people hostage for hundreds of days, to say that Israel bears responsibility for starvation in Gaza. We know this because Israeli officials have, for months — indeed, since the start of the war — not only admitted to working to restrict the aid that makes its way to Gaza, but bragged about doing so."

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