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Dear A.,

Urban warfare expert John Spencer
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published an important op-ed today , rebutting the outrageous lies and falsehoods levied by former Obama administration official Ben Rhodes in an anti-Israel and anti-AIPAC
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New York Times opinion piece.


As Spencer articulates with a fact-based, point-by-point analysis, Rhodes' article — which argues that Democrats should abandon Israel and disavow AIPAC — fails the most basic journalistic standards.

"The author claims that supporting Israel’s right to defend itself and to conduct military operations to retrieve unlawfully taken hostages makes Democrats hypocrites when defending a rules-based order, racial equality, and democracy. This is false. An explicit condition of the rules-based order since 1945 is that sovereign nations may defend themselves after an armed attack. It is the most basic tenet of the U.N. Charter."


"The article relies on an emotionally charged but morally incoherent equivalency. It argues that if one believes a Palestinian child has equal dignity to an Israeli or American child, one cannot support the Israeli government while hiding behind platitudes about peace. This argument is appalling. It ignores the most fundamental distinction in the laws of war. There is a clear difference between a baby kidnapped by Hamas and murdered with bare hands and the tragic death of a child in urban combat who is being used as a human shield by Hamas."


"The author also invokes the biggest lie of this war, the claim that Israel is committing genocide. There is no genocide in Gaza. Israel has no intent to destroy in whole or in part the civilian population of Gaza. It sought to destroy Hamas as a military and political organization while doing more to feed, house, vaccinate, provide medical care, and prevent harm to the civilian population than any nation in history. Wanting to destroy your enemy is not genocide. It is war. War is not illegal, and in some cases it is necessary."


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I encourage you to read and share Spencer's full op-ed here.


You can also share this on
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Instagram ,
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X .

Continue to
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follow AIPAC on social media for the latest updates.

Jake Braunstein

Senior Director, Policy Communications

Tell Congress: Reject False Accusations of Genocide Against Israel


Anti-Israel Rep. Rashida Tlaib is pushing a resolution falsely accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza for defending itself against Hamas’ horrific October 7 massacre. The resolution calls to block arms to Israel, prosecute American citizens and companies, and put sanctions on the Jewish state.

TAKE 45 SECONDS: Contact your members of Congress and urge them to condemn the resolution and refute this false accusation.

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Trump, Netanyahu speak on phone; 'findings' returned to Israel, awaiting identification

Last night, President Trump spoke to Prime Minister Netanyahu on the phone. Trump invited Netanyahu to the White House, and the two leaders discussed "the importance of and commitment to dismantling Hamas’s military capabilities and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, and discussed the expansion of the peace accords,"
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according to the Israeli readout of the call.


Today, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office
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announced that "findings" — including "small remains, pieces" of a body — were returned to the IDF in Gaza from the Red Cross. The findings will now be
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transferred to the Israeli Health Ministry's National Institute for Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv for identification.

The United States must increase the pressure on Hamas and its sponsors in Qatar, Turkey and Iran to fully comply with the agreement and release all murdered the hostages.

U.S. warns Iraq that Israel will strike militias assisting Hezbollah

U.S. Ambassador Tom Barrack warned Iraq's leader on Sunday that Israel could carry out strikes on militias in the country if they continue assisting the Lebanon-based Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah.


Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's office
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said that the discussion between the two was focused on "preventing any further escalation in the region." Barrack also told the Iraqi leader that Israel's operation in Lebanon will "continue until Hezbollah is disarmed."


This came as
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U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus met with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar in Jerusalem to discuss the situation in Lebanon, including Hezbollah's disarmament.

The United States must continue to increase the pressure on Lebanon to fulfill its stated commitment to fully disarm Hezbollah.


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Israeli defense contractors record double-digit growth in 2024

Israeli defense manufacturers Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries and Elbit Systems — all of whom have U.S. subsidiaries — surged in 2024, with higher rankings and double-digit revenue growth, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).


"Many countries continued to place new orders with Israeli companies in 2024,"
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said Zubaida Karim, researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program. These orders help contribute to all three firms being in SIPRI's Top 100 arms producers and raise their 2023 arms revenues by 16% in 2024.

Israel's defense industrial base continues to produce cutting-edge military systems that help keep Americans and our allies safer and more secure.

PICTURE OF THE DAY
Israeli president welcomes special delegation of Muslim leaders from Africa



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Israeli President Isaac Herzog welcomed a delegation of Imams and members of Muslim communities from Benin, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal and Togo yesterday at the President's Residence in Jerusalem.


The delegation, facilitated by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, came to Israel to promote a message of peace, coexistence, and partnership between Muslims and Jews, and between Africa and Israel.


Three soldiers injured in West Bank stabbing, car ramming attacks; IDF raids office of terror-linked union

Last night, two Israeli soldiers were injured in a
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stabbing attack near Ateret in the West Bank, after the soldiers were dispatched
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following a report of a suspect in the area. This attack followed a car ramming attack that injured another soldier.


The IDF and security forces
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eliminated the terrorists who perpetrated the attacks.


Meanwhile, the IDF yesterday raided the offices of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) in Ramallah and Hebron in the West Bank. The UAWC has long had
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ties to the terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).


The IDF and security forces seized 700,000 shekels (NIS) and arrested eight wanted individuals and took another 14 in for questioning.


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Freed Israeli hostage shares how he survived in Gaza

Freed Israeli hostage Alon Ohel, who was held captive in Gaza for two years after being kidnapped from the Nova music festival,
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shared his experiences in a new interview with Israel’s Channel 12.


“Anyone who wasn’t there won’t be able to understand it. You’ve never experienced hunger, you’ve never been chained for a year and a half. Chained like a monkey, eating like a dog. There, you’re not a human being, you’re an animal,” he said.


Alon recounted how he was taken by Hamas terrorists to a hospital in Gaza, where a mob of angry Gazan civilians waited outside.


Alon was held in captivity alongside Eli Sharabi, another freed hostage. Eli became like a father figure to Alon: “From the very first moment, he and I connected… He would hold me and lift me up. He carried himself and me on his back.”


Released in the hostage deal in October, Alon is committed to recovering and moving forward, saying, “I am not looking for self-pity. I have been through what I have been through. I am taking it and growing — continuing to learn and develop. I am going to conquer the world.”


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Cori Bush poses with activist who defended murder of Israeli embassy staffers


Anti-Israel former Rep. Cori Bush, who was defeated by AIPAC-backed Rep. Wesley Bell in the Democratic primary last cycle, is now running to regain her seat in Congress.


She recently attended an American Muslims for Palestine conference, where she
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posed for a picture with anti-Israel activist Guy Christensen, who defended the shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum in which two Israeli Embassy employees were murdered. Christensen said at the time of the shooting: “I do not condemn the elimination of those two Zionist officials. [The shooter] is not a terrorist. He’s a resistance fighter.”


The caption of the photo posted with Bush was: “We’re coming for you AIPAC.”

AIPAC and the pro-Israel community are strongly supporting Rep. Bell, and together, we will continue to demonstrate that being pro-Israel is both good policy and good politics.



Other notable headlines
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House passes bill to bar, deport Oct. 7 perpetrators


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Medical Holy Grail: Israeli researchers isolate elusive cells that may slow down aging


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U.S. Moves to Deepen Minerals Supply Chain in AI Race With China


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Israeli startups raised $1.4b in November


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Saudi Arabia funds PA with $90 million


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The mission of AIPAC is to encourage and persuade the U.S. government to enact specific policies that create a strong, enduring and mutually beneficial relationship with our ally Israel.


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