NEW FROM FMEP
FMEP Legislative Round-Up October 3, 2025 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Hearings & Markups; 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
On the new 20-Point-Plan, Recognition of Palestinian Statehood, and Popular Pressure to End the Genocide (New Occupied Thoughts podcast)
FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with analyst Mouin Rabbani about political and diplomatic developments relating to the Israeli genocide in Gaza. They discuss the “20 Point Plan” that President Donald Trump released today, as well as his joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asking about actual provisions to limit Israel’s genocidal behavior and noting the colonial structure of the internationally-headed “Board of Peace” that will rule Gaza, according to the proposal. They discuss the symbolic measure of many countries recognizing Palestinian statehood at the UN last week; Mouin notes that this recognition is the first time that Western governments have taken steps for Palestinians in response to pressure from their own constituencies, and suggests that this action demonstrates that popular pressure can affect policy. Finally, Hilary and Mouin look at current initiatives, including the “United for Peace” proposal and the Gaza Sumud Flotilla, that aim to intervene directly in the genocide, and talk about the importance of replacing impunity with accountability.
GAZA
As Israel Pounds Gaza City, an Overwhelming Exodus (NYT 10/1/25)
“The hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing Israel’s expanded ground offensive are further straining services, aid groups say. Hospitals are overflowing, water is low and diseases are spreading.” See also Red Cross temporarily suspends Gaza City operations due to hostilities (Reuters 10/1/25); IDF: Over 750,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City to Strip’s south amid offensive (TOI 9/27/25); Water ‘more precious than gold’: Palestinians fleeing Gaza City face perilous journey south (Rasha Abou Jalal//Al Monitor 9/27/25)
I vowed never to flee Gaza City. But Israel’s assault has left me no choice (Ahmed Ahmed//+972 Magazine 10/2/25)
“On Tuesday, I left Gaza City for the first time in two years. Until then I had refused Israel’s orders throughout the genocide to flee to the so-called “humanitarian zone” in the south, even as I was forced at times to move between neighborhoods within Gaza City to escape Israeli tanks and heavy aerial bombardment. I was also committed to remain in the north as a journalist. I felt a duty to document the stories of the voiceless in the face of Israel’s ban on foreign journalists entering the Strip and its systematic targeting of local reporters, which has often forced me to write anonymously. Even in recent weeks, when the army ordered the evacuation of all of Gaza City’s residents and ramped up its attacks on my surroundings, I vowed to stay put. But it soon became clear that this operation is like no other, and I had to take my survival into my own hands. The assault began in the city’s most densely populated neighborhoods — Zeitoun and Al-Sabra in the west, where I grew up — before advancing north into Jabalia, Sheikh Radwan, and Al-Jalaa. Residential towers are being systematically leveled to strike fear into people’s hearts and drive families south. Unmanned, explosive-laden vehicles are sent in to demolish entire residential areas in massive blasts.” See also “More Dangerous by the Hour”: A Report From Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City (Abdel Qader Sabbah and Sharif Abdel Kouddous//Drop Site 9/29/25); “Death is Better Than This Life”: Displaced Palestinians in Gaza Are Being Bombed in Their Tents (Abdel Qader Sabbah//Drop Site 10/2/25);
Genocide in Gaza (Drop Site 10/3/25)
“At least 49 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza today, including 31 in Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera. Over the past 24 hours, 63 dead and 227 injured arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza’s health ministry, while 15 Palestinians were killed and 80 injured while seeking aid. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 66,288 killed, with 169,165 injured. Two Palestinians, including a child, died of starvation and malnutrition over the past 24 hours, according to the Gaza health ministry, bringing the total since the start of the war to 457 Palestinians, including 152 children. Meanwhile, northern Gaza has been effectively cut off from aid as Israel closed the main coastal road, disallowing travel north, and there are no aid distribution sites in the north. UNRWA warned that statements by Israel officials labeling the roughly 250,000 civilians remaining in Gaza City and northern Gaza as “terrorists or terror supporters” suggest Israel may be planning large-scale massacres…On October 1, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “This is the last opportunity for Gaza residents who wish to do so to move south. Those who remain in Gaza will be considered terrorists and terror supporters.”’ See also Genocide in Gaza (Drop Site 10/2/25): “At least 45 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza today, according to Al Jazeera. Over the past 24 hours, 77 dead and 222 injured arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza’s health ministry, while two Palestinians were killed and 44 injured while seeking aid. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 66,225 killed, with 168,938 injured.” See also Genocide in Gaza (Drop Site 10/1/25): “Over the past 24 hours, 51 dead and 180 injured arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza’s health ministry, while four Palestinians were killed and 57 injured while seeking aid…The health ministry reported that two Palestinians, including a child, died of starvation and malnutrition over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 455, including 151 children. Israel’s defense minister Israel Katz on Wednesday issued a final warning for Palestinians in Gaza City to flee.” See also Israeli Fire Kills 77 in Gaza in Past Day, Health Ministry Says, as Death Toll Passes 66,000 (Haaretz 9/28/25); Israel says ‘last opportunity’ for Gaza City residents to leave (The Guardian 10/1/25);
The destruction of Gaza City is a crime against history (Baker Zoubi//+972 Magazine 9/30/25)
“As residents scramble to escape death, there is little capacity to mourn the destruction of their city. But the Israeli army’s systematic erasure of Gaza City — flattening one neighborhood after another, as it did already in Rafah, Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya, and much of Khan Younis — is wiping out thousands of years of Palestinian and Arab heritage, representing a crime against history itself. Many of the Gaza Strip’s multi-civilizational treasures have already been obliterated over the course of Israel’s two-year genocide. But Gaza City’s ancient origins, along with its centrality in the formation of Palestinian national identity and resistance against the Israeli occupation, make its ruination more than simply a human tragedy. The city’s history dates back many thousands of years, and it is referenced in the Book of Genesis as having been inhabited by Canaanites. Its strategic location between Africa and Asia has made it a vital port and a target of conquest for the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, Hasmoneans, Romans, and Ottomans.”
‘Will my baby be born in a tent? Will it have food?’: what it’s like to be pregnant in Gaza (Nour Ziad al-Batash//The Guardian 10/1/25)
“In Gaza these days, I can only wonder whether I can find food to keep my baby healthy and how it will be to give birth in a tent…Displacement has made us bankrupt. I have run out of food. My health condition is critical because of pregnancy. I have bleeding due to blood formation inside the uterus as a result of extreme fatigue. I went to Doctors Without Borders and was classified as a malnourished patient. I was transferred to a specialised clinic to examine my pregnancy. The result was they say my pregnancy is high-risk. I will most likely lose my baby. I need to stay in the hospital. But the hospital does not have the capacity for me to stay. I constantly have questions for myself about where I will give birth and whether the baby will be healthy. Will I find healthcare when I need it and will there be food for the baby?…We used to live a beautiful life. My husband was an optician in a leading hospital. We have two children aged six and four. Then the war came and destroyed our home and my husband’s work. We have been displaced and have had to live through weeks in areas besieged by Israeli forces bombing and shelling around us. My children do not eat enough and have become malnourished, making it easy for them to fall ill and hard for them to move.”
As Hamas and Islamic Jihad Decry Trump Plan, Many Gazans Say ‘Anything Is Better Than Bloodshed’ (Haaretz 9/30/25)
“After nearly two years of war, many Palestinians in Gaza say they want the fighting to end at almost any cost – even if that means Hamas loses power – while political factions remain divided over the U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to halt the war. While residents describe living through relentless bombardment, displacement and food shortages, their overriding demand is for the violence to stop. “Frankly, the proposal is very bad, but it is better than nothing. Anything is better than the bloodshed,” one displaced father sheltering in Khan Yunis told Haaretz. Yet among Palestinian leaders, reactions to the White House plan have been fractured: Islamic Jihad rejected it as an American-Israeli dictate, Hamas offered mixed signals and the Palestinian Authority cautiously endorsed Washington’s mediation.”
REGION//GLOBAL
Hamas agrees to some of Trump’s plan but seeks negotiations (Al Monitor 10/3/25)
“Hamas said on Friday it would agree to some aspects of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war, including releasing hostages and handing over administration of the enclave, but that it would seek negotiations over many of its other terms. In a copy of the statement seen by Reuters, Hamas issued its response to Trump’s 20-point plan after the U.S. president gave the Palestinian militant group until Sunday to accept or reject the proposal…Notably, Hamas did not say whether it would agree to a stipulation that it disarm, a demand by Israel and the U.S. that it has previously rejected.” See also Hamas agrees to release all Israeli hostages as it accepts part of Trump’s plan (The Guardian 10/3/25); Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages, Begin Negotiations Over Trump’s Gaza Cease-fire Proposal (Haaretz 10/3/25); Trump posts Hamas’s statement announcing its response to his proposal to end Gaza war (TOI 10/3/25); Trump says if Hamas does not accept proposed peace deal by Sunday, ‘all hell’ will break out (PBS 10/3/25)
How Hamas Is Navigating Trump’s Gaza Ultimatum (Jeremy Scahill and Jawa Ahmad//Drop Site 10/2/25)
“Hamas officials are conducting an intense series of meetings with Palestinian factions and regional mediators to formulate the Palestinian response to the 20-point Gaza plan announced by President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday. On Tuesday, Trump gave Hamas “three or four days” to respond to what is effectively an ultimatum, threatening the U.S. would empower Israel to indefinitely continue its war of annihilation on Gaza if Hamas did not agree to the plan wholesale. When asked if there is room for Hamas to negotiate the terms, Trump replied, “not much.”…While [Mohammed] Nazzal [a veteran Hamas official and longtime member of its political bureau] said some aspects of the proposal may be acceptable to Hamas and closely align with principles the group had previously agreed to, he described most of the terms as Israeli edicts. “Public opinion within the Palestinian factions is uncomfortable with the plan that was presented. There are some positives in the plan, but the negatives outweigh them,” he said. “Unless the plan is changed or significant modifications are made to certain points, I believe it will be difficult to accept it as it stands.”’ See also Egypt foreign minister urges Hamas to accept Trump Gaza plan and disarm (The Guardian 10/3/25)
How Ramallah sees Trump’s Gaza plan (Daoud Kuttab//Al Monitor 10/1/25)
“Palestinian leaders welcomed the US announcement of a plan to end the Gaza war, noting that despite lingering questions about the timeline and Ramallah’s involvement, recent international backing for statehood has shifted the balance of power and strengthened the position of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in postwar governance.” See also Trump’s 20-Point Gaza Plan: A Rubber Stamp of Legitimacy on Israel’s Subjugation of Palestine (Jeremy Scahill and Jawa Ahmad//Drop Site 9/30/25); The Trump–Netanyahu Gaza Peace Deal Promises Indefinite Occupation (Jonah Valdez//The Intercept 10/1/25); Trump’s peace proposal welcomed by world leaders but Palestinians remain sceptical (The Guardian 9/30/25)
Trump and Netanyahu to Hamas: accept Gaza peace plan or face consequences (The Guardian 9/29/25)
“Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, have delivered an ultimatum to Hamas, warning the militant group to accept their 20-point peace plan for Gaza or face the consequences. The two leaders met at the White House in Washington on Monday then held a joint press briefing in which they hailed their proposal as a historic breakthrough and new chapter for the Middle East…Both Trump and Netanyahu made clear that they were not offering Hamas a choice in the matter. If the group refused, Trump told reporters, “Israel would have my full backing to finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas. “But I hope that we’re going to have a deal for peace, and if Hamas rejects the deal … Bibi, you’d have our full backing to do what you would have to do.” The Israeli prime minister said ominously: “If Hamas rejects your plan, Mr President, or if they supposedly accept it and then do everything to counter it, then Israel will finish the job by itself. This can be done the easy way or it can be done the hard way, but it will be done.”’ See also What’s in Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza? (The Guardian 9/29/25); Postwar Gaza authority potentially led by Tony Blair ‘would sideline Palestinians’ (The Guardian 9/29/25);
Trump gives Qatar unprecedented security guarantee after Israeli attack (Axios 10/1/25)
“President Trump signed on Monday an executive order to provide Qatar a U.S. security guarantee with conditions similar to NATO’s Article 5, according to the text of the order published by the White House…This is an unprecedented security agreement between the U.S. and an Arab country. It says the U.S. will treat any “armed attack” on the country “as a threat to the peace and security of the United States” and respond accordingly. The upgraded U.S. security guarantee is part of the “compensation” to Qatar for the failed Israeli strike against Hamas officials in Doha three weeks ago…The U.S. move shows how Qatar managed to leverage the crisis to both isolate Israel and get a strategic breakthrough no other Arab country has managed. Under pressure from Trump, Netanyahu had to apologize to Qatar both in private and in public for the strike — a major political humiliation. Trump’s advisers also leveraged the Israel-Qatar crisis to get Netanyahu to accept a plan for ending the war in Gaza for the first time since the Hamas Oct. 7 attacks.” See also Israel may have underestimated Trump’s links with Qatar (Susannah George//WaPo 10/2/25); Qatari Diplomat Was Present in Trump-Netanyahu White House Meeting (Haaretz 10/3/25); Qatar to continue mediation after Israel expresses regret over strike on Hamas (BBC 9/30/25); How Trump Used Fury Over Israel’s Qatar Attack to Push Netanyahu on Gaza (NYT 10/3/25);
Israeli naval forces board pro-Palestinian flotilla 75 miles from Gaza (The Guardian 10/1/25)
“A number of boats from a pro-Palestinian flotilla have been boarded by Israeli forces roughly 75 miles off the coast of Gaza, as the vessels attempted to breach the maritime blockade of the war-torn territory and bring aid. The raid began with the flotilla’s leading vessel, Alma, whose crew were detained by Israeli soldiers on Wednesday. A video from the Israeli foreign ministry showed the most prominent of the flotilla’s passengers, Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers.” See also Israel’s Gaza flotilla interception triggers protests, diplomatic expulsions and calls for strikes (The Guardian 10/2/25); Final boat of 42-strong pro-Palestinian flotilla intercepted by Israel (The Guardian 10/3/25); Israel seizes last flotilla boat, readies to deport hundreds, as more ships set sail for Gaza (TOI 10/3/25); What It’s Like on the Gaza-Bound Flotilla Attacked by Drones (The Intercept 9/26/25); Israel Illegally Boards Humanitarian Flotilla Heading to Gaza (Drop Site 10/1/25); Israel intercepts Gaza aid flotilla, detains Thunberg and other activists (WaPo 10/1/25); Italian union says 2 million joined general strike over Gaza, as masses march nationwide (TOI 10/3/25);
Labour conference backs motion saying Israel is committing genocide in Gaza (The Guardian 9/29/25)
“The Labour conference has backed a union-led motion accepting a UN finding that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and urging the British government to act to prevent it.” See also Manchester synagogue attack: what do we know so far? (The Guardian 10/3/25); Home secretary denies the recognition of Palestine has emboldened antisemites (The Guardian 10/3/25)
RIVER TO THE SEA
How Netanyahu Aims to Obstruct the Gaza Plan He Was Forced to Accept From Trump (Amos Harel//Haaretz 10/1/25)
“Netanyahu – intimately familiar with Trump and fully aware of the power imbalance between them – has, for the moment, been compelled to flatter and comply. In the studios of his loyal media outlets, some pundits appeared apoplectic. How to reconcile promises of annihilation and dreams of population transfer in Gaza with a humiliating apology to the Qatari prime minister, following Israel’s botched assassination attempt on Hamas’ negotiating team in Doha just three weeks ago?…The fact that the drafters of the plan didn’t set a binding timetable for the IDF’s withdrawal could complicate things down the line. At the same time, Netanyahu will leverage objections from the messianic right-wing parties in his coalition and scatter hints and declarations aimed at stressing Hamas and making the organization’s leaders believe that Israel will violate the agreement when the opportunity arises.” See also Thousands Rally in Israel Demanding Netanyahu Accept Trump’s Gaza Cease-fire and Hostage Deal (Haaretz 9/27/25); Deputy Knesset Speaker From Netanyahu’s Likud: ‘Israeli Interest Is No Arabs’ in the West Bank, All Should Be Expelled (Haaretz 9/28/25);
The Israeli right’s ‘time of miracles’ is over. The Palestinians are going nowhere (Meron Rapoport//+972 Magazine 10/2/25)
“While problematic for many reasons, Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza appears to spell the end of the Israeli government’s expulsion fantasies…Much has been left ambiguous in the White House’s 20-point plan, but when it comes to the question of migration, the language is unequivocal. “No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return,” Article 12 states. “We will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza.” The “time of miracles,” that once-in-a-century opportunity to eliminate the Palestinians from Gaza once and for all, is over. Battered and bruised, the Gazans remain. Article 16 further states that “Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza.” Together with Trump’s comments last week implying that West Bank annexation is also off the table for the time being, the government’s wish list is fast slipping away.”
U.S. SCENE
Americans’ Support for Israel Dramatically Declines, Times/Siena Poll Finds (NYT 9/29/25)
“Nearly two years into the war in Gaza, American support for Israel has undergone a seismic reversal, with large shares of voters expressing starkly negative views about the Israeli government’s management of the conflict, a new poll from The New York Times and Siena University found. Disapproval of the war appears to have prompted a striking reassessment by American voters of their broader sympathies in the decades-old conflict in the region, with slightly more voters siding with Palestinians over Israelis for the first time since The Times began asking voters about their sympathies in 1998…A majority of American voters now oppose sending additional economic and military aid to Israel, a stunning reversal in public opinion since the Oct. 7 attacks. About six out of 10 voters said that Israel should end its military campaign, even if the remaining Israeli hostages were not released or Hamas was not eliminated. And 40 percent of voters said Israel was intentionally killing civilians in Gaza, nearly double the number of voters who agreed with that statement in the 2023 poll…Nearly two years ago, Democrats were evenly divided, with 34 percent sympathizing with Israel and 31 percent with Palestinians. Now, rank-and-file Democrats across the country overwhelmingly side with Palestinians — 54 percent said they sympathized more with Palestinians, while only 13 percent expressed greater empathy for Israel…Republicans still sympathize with Israel more than Palestinians, 64 percent to 9 percent. But those numbers indicate a drop in support of 12 percentage points since 2023, when 76 percent sided with Israel.” See also An Entire Generation of Americans Is Turning on Israel (Politico 9/29/25); Democrats Pull Away From AIPAC, Reflecting a Broader Shift (NYT 10/2/25);
Judge issues blistering opinion against Trump policy to deport pro-Palestinian students (The Guardian 9/30/25)
“A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration’s policy to detain and deport foreign scholars over their pro-Palestinian views violates the US constitution and was designed to “intentionally” chill free speech rights. The case was brought by the national American Association of University Professors (AAUP); its Harvard, Rutgers and New York University chapters; and the Middle East Studies Association (Mesa), following the arrest and detention of several non-citizen students and scholars who have spoken out for Palestinian rights. In a 161-page ruling issued on Tuesday, the judge, William G Young, a Ronald Reagan appointee, called the case “perhaps the most important ever to fall within the jurisdiction of this district court”. “This case … squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in United States actually have the same free speech rights as the rest of us,” Young wrote in the ruling. “The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally ‘yes, they do’…Several state department officials testified in court that they had been instructed by higher-ups to compile allegations about the individuals targeted, sometimes relying on dossiers from the rightwing Canary Mission, a secretive, pro-Israel group dedicated to doxing thousands of pro-Palestinian scholars.” See also Larry Ellison Vetted Marco Rubio for Fealty to Israel, Hacked Emails Reveal (Drop Site 10/2/25)
U.S. used a transnational crime unit to secretly target campus protesters (WaPo 10/2/25)
“When Rumeysa Ozturk was grabbed by masked federal agents outside her Massachusetts home in March, the video of the Turkish graduate student being handcuffed and hustled into an unmarked vehicle spread around the world. A federal trial that ended Tuesday revealed for the first time the story behind the images, showing how the government assigned a special team to target Ozturk and other pro-Palestinian activists, laying the groundwork for their highly unusual arrests. Ozturk had committed no crime, yet her detention was a priority for the new Trump administration. U.S. officials used the immigration system in unprecedented ways to covertly research and detain noncitizen students, relying on an investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security whose work traditionally has focused on crimes such as drug smuggling and human trafficking.”
Trump’s Blueprint to Crush the Left Draws from Decades of Counterterrorism Policy (Chip Gibbons//Drop Site 10/3/25)
“If there was any question as to whether his Executive Order was merely bluster, Trump clarified the matter three days later when he issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7). Bearing Trump’s signature, NSPM-7 was clearly drafted with a deep understanding of the U.S. counterterrorism bureaucracy. It seeks to “disrupt” not just those allegedly carrying out left-wing violence, but those who fund it and those who “radicalize” and recruit individuals to partake in it. It declares domestic terrorism to be a top priority and defines domestic terrorism priorities to include “civil unrest” and “doxing.”…At the heart of the strategy lies the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).”
Targeting OSF, Trump Aims for a Chilling Effect on Liberal Funders (Connie Mathiessen//Inside Philanthropy 9/26/25)
“According to a New York Times report yesterday, the Department of Justice is now formulating plans to open a criminal investigation into the Open Society Foundations. A department directive obtained by the Times laid out how the DOJ may proceed: “Possible charges [against Open Society Foundations] included racketeering, arson, wire fraud and material support for terrorism.” Also yesterday, Trump issued a presidential memorandum seeking to establish “a new law enforcement strategy that investigates all participants in these criminal and terroristic conspiracies — including the organized structures, networks, entities, organizations, funding sources and predicate actions behind them.” As evidence to support the Department of Justice’s investigation of OSF, a DOJ lawyer pointed to a report by the Capital Research Center (CRC), according to the Times…Open Society Foundations issued a statement in response to the administration’s reported investigation that reads, in part, “The Open Society Foundations unequivocally condemn terrorism and do not fund terrorism. Our activities are peaceful and lawful, and our grantees are expected to abide by human rights principles and comply with the law. These accusations are politically motivated attacks on civil society, meant to silence speech the administration disagrees with and undermine the First Amendment right to free speech.”…It is still unclear how far the administration plans to go to target philanthropy, or exactly what strategies it will pursue beyond its apparent moves against OSF…as Georgetown Law Professor David A. Super told Kavate, the administration’s threats will have a chilling effect — and that is the goal. “The pattern we’ve seen in the other areas suggests that they can get a great deal of results from a relatively modest amount of intimidation, and that model is attractive to them,” Super said. Targeting big names like Ford and Open Society, he believes, will serve to silence other organizations and encourage them to keep their heads down.” See also The Philanthropy-Backed Think Tank Behind Trump’s Soros Investigation (Inside Philanthropy 10/3/25);
Judge Rejects Trump’s Argument and Throws Out Suit Against U.N. Agency (NYT 10/2/25)
“A federal judge, rejecting the Trump administration’s position, has dismissed a lawsuit accusing a United Nations agency of providing more than $1 billion that enabled Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. In a ruling this week, the judge, Analisa Torres of Federal District Court in Manhattan, said the organization, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, was protected because it was part of the United Nations, which enjoys immunity from such lawsuits.”
FBI cuts ties with ADL after row over extremist label for Charlie Kirk’s advocacy group (TOI 10/1/25)
“The FBI has cut ties with advocacy group Anti-Defamation League, Kash Patel, the bureau’s director, says. “This FBI won’t partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs,” Patel says in a post on X. A day earlier, the ADL said that it took down its Glossary of Extremism and Hate after right-wing US activists assailed the online database for including an entry about Turning Point USA, the conservative advocacy group led by slain influencer Charlie Kirk. X owner Elon Musk, who has branded the US-based antisemitism watchdog an anti-Christian hate group, and Donald Trump Jr., the US president’s son, were among the prominent figures who criticized the database, which served as a resource for researchers, journalists and others.” See also Elon Musk calls ADL a ‘hate group’ that ‘hates Christians (JTA 9/29/25); FBI’s Kash Patel attacks ADL as ‘extreme group functioning like a terrorist organization’ (JI 10/1/25); ADL deletes ‘Glossary of Extremism and Hate’ amid flurry of right-wing criticism (JTA 10/1/25);
Inside Israel’s ‘Esther Project’: DOJ filings reveal paid US influencer campaign amid AI-powered PR blitz (Asaf Elia-Shalev//JTA 9/30/25)
“Newly filed records with the Department of Justice show that Israel’s government has quietly launched a two-track influence operation in the United States, blending big-budget political advertising with grassroots-style influencer campaigns. The filings reveal that a firm called Bridges Partners LLC has been hired to manage an influencer network under a project code-named the “Esther Project.” It is unclear if there is any link to Project Esther, a plan to combat antisemitism published by the Heritage Foundation, an American right-wing think tank. In its disclosure, required under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Bridges said its work was intended to “assist with promoting cultural interchange between the United States and Israel” and specified that the engagement runs through a German division of the global PR firm Havas…There is evidence that the work is already underway: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with a group of influencers on Friday in New York City…The Bridges filings — unreported until now — add new information about Israel’s sweeping current diplomacy push, in what Israeli officials have taken to calling an “eighth front” in the country’s current war. They complement a separate, larger deal that has drawn public attention this week: Israel’s $1.5 million per month contract with Brad Parscale, a former campaign strategist for President Donald Trump.” See also Israel is paying influencers $7,000 per post (Nick Cleveland-Stout//Responsible Statecraft 9/30/25); Former Trump campaign manager registers to advocate for Israel (Axios 9/30/25);
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
UK, France and other Western nations recognize Palestinian state ahead of UN meetings – but symbolic action won’t make statehood happen (Dr. Maha Nassar//The Conversation 9/19/25)
“That a host of Western nations are adding their names to the near-universal list of Global South countries that already recognize a Palestinian state is a major diplomatic win for the cause of an independent, sovereign and self-governed nation for Palestinians. Conversely, it is a massive diplomatic loss for Israel – especially coming just two years after the West stood shoulder to shoulder with Israel following the Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas. As a scholar of modern Palestinian history, I know that this diplomatic moment is decades in the making. But I am also aware that symbolic diplomatic breakthroughs on the issue of Palestinian statehood have occurred before, only to prove meaningless in the face of events that make statehood less likely…The U.S. remains opposed to Palestinians gaining statehood independent of the Oslo process. So long as the U.S. has a veto on the Security Council, achieving a truly sovereign Palestinian state will likewise be off the table. And that remains the case, regardless of what individual members – even fellow Security Council members like France and the U.K – do. In fact, many Palestinians and other critics of the status quo say Western nations are using the issue of Palestinian statehood to absolve them from the far more challenging diplomatic task of holding Israel accountable for what a U.N. body just described as a genocide in Gaza.”
Can the World Make Recognition of Palestine’s Statehood Matter? (Amjad Iraqi//ICG 9/26/25)
“What are the dangers of recognition? The biggest risk is twofold. First, critics note that the positive case for recognition rests largely on aspirational benefits that the Palestinians will reap only if foreign governments show a sustained political will that has deserted them in the past. They reasonably worry that recognition will prove a distraction – drawing attention away from more concrete steps that can be taken to end the war in Gaza and aid the Palestinian people amid an existential crisis. Some speculate that the recognition wave is an intentional diversion, designed to give cover to governments wishing to be seen as doing something besides issuing words of condemnation…Secondly, the Netanyahu government is essentially calling the world’s bluff…They are also demonstrating readiness to retaliate…How might recognition affect Palestinian politics? Palestinians have mixed views about recognition. Some cautiously welcome its prospective benefits, arguing that it could bolster foreign leaders’ confidence to take more concrete actions. Others believe it will make no meaningful difference. Still others believe it is dangerous – not just for the reasons noted above, but because they see it as truncating Palestinian national demands, reducing Palestine to what they describe as a shrivelled bantustan without addressing the rights of exiled refugees (who make up over half of the Palestinian people) or the injustices of the 1948 Nakba (Arabic for “catastrophe”), the mass expulsion and dispossession that enabled Israel’s creation. Virtually all, however, seem to agree that recognition alone will do little or nothing to halt the present war, which looks set to bring about even greater horrors amid the assault on Gaza City.”
Give Palestinians Something More Than Statehood Recognition (Dr. Mustafa Barghouti//NYT 9/22/25)
“Recognition of Palestinian statehood — now formalized by some 150 countries — is welcome in the face of Israel’s decades-long denial of the Palestinian right to self-determination and a settlement expansion plan that “buries the idea of a Palestinian state,” as Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, recently put it. However, it is empty symbolism at best, and at worst, a distraction from a lack of action to stop Israel’s war in Gaza and the starvation and forced displacement of roughly two million Palestinians living there. Any recognition of Palestinian statehood should be accompanied by concrete action to hold Israel accountable for its illegal, destructive policies…The international community must finally recognize the failures of the past and the reality on the ground. No true or lasting peace can be made without the dismantling of Israel’s apartheid system. Real pressure must be applied to Israel for this to happen.”
The Kushner-Blair Gaza plan is a moral atrocity – and a policy catastrophe (Josh Paul//The Guardian 9/30/25)
“And yet here we are again, in 2025, talking about a western occupational government imposed on a region of the Middle East – and one led by Blair, no less – complete with the same old visions of economic prosperity disconnected from the realities on the ground or the rights of the people. It will not work, and it should not be trusted. First, and most fundamentally, there is the question of legitimacy and local ownership. Self-determination is not just a right under the UN Charter – it is a fundamental desire of all peoples to shape their own affairs, and to build their own societies. The imposition of governance from the outside – a colonialist venture with a long history premised on the extraction of wealth through the repression of freedom – is simply not a sustainable path to a stable politics, because it is by nature lacking in popular support or buy-in, and incapable of an accurate and sufficiently nuanced understanding of local culture and dynamics.”
What Happened to Human Rights for Palestinians? (Agnès Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International, & Federico Borello, acting executive director of Human Rights Watch//NYT 10/1/25)
“The Trump administration on Sept. 4 imposed sanctions on three leading Palestinian human rights organizations: Al Haq, founded in 1979 and a pioneer in documenting violations in occupied Gaza and the West Bank; Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, which for more than two decades has meticulously chronicled laws of war violations in Gaza; and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which has long provided legal aid to victims, particularly from Gaza. In June, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on another leading Palestinian rights group, Addameer, under a different set of measures. This is part of a broader Trump administration effort aimed at those who support justice for Palestinians…Beyond what has been done to the Palestinians, the Trump administration has undermined the rule of law, protection of human rights and international justice, which all lie at the heart of a rules-based global order…So far, other governments have carefully balanced their reactions to the U.S. sanctions for fear of provoking the Trump administration. This is a flawed strategy and out of step with the urgency the situation demands. Governments need to condemn efforts to undermine the I.C.C.’s independence and to silence those who are documenting abuses. They should use regional and national laws, like the European Union Blocking Statute, which can be employed to nullify external laws in the union, to mitigate the impact of U.S. sanctions on those working with the court. Those who helped establish the international court and claim to uphold the values underpinning it must step up to defend them.
Jeffrey Epstein Helped Broker Israeli Security Agreement (Murtza Hussain & Ryan Grim//Drop Site 9/28/25)
“Jeffrey Epstein used his political network and financial resources to help broker a security cooperation agreement between the governments of Israel and Mongolia, according to a trove of leaked emails from former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. This new set of emails between Barak and Epstein has largely been ignored by the mainstream press, but includes crucial new context on Epstein’s operation.”