NEW FROM FMEP
What do West Bank Palestinian youth want? (Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with author and scholar Dr. Nathan J. Brown about his recent article, For Younger Palestinians, Crisis Has Become a Way of Life.
The American-Israeli war on Iran – Polls and Impact on Strategic Considerations (Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with University of Maryland Professor Dr. Shibley Telhami and FMEP President Lara Friedman. The three discuss the new US & Israeli war against Iran, the strategic changes in the Persian Gulf and the polling data in the U.S. demonstrating a lack of support for the war. They discuss the fate of the Abraham Accords and normalization more broadly. They also discuss the role and politics of Israel in the U.S. now, including recent polling data and the impact on current and future leadership.
FMEP Legislative Round-Up March 6, 2026 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Hearings & Markups; 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
Settlement & Annexation Report: March 6, 2026 (Kristin McCarthy)
WEST BANK: 2.2% Settler Growth Rate in 2024; IDF Taking Over Palestinian Homes; EAST JERUSALEM: E-1 Delay?, Report on EJ Settlement Surge Since Oct 2023; SETTLER & STATE TERRORISM: Severity; U.S. NEWS
GLOBAL/REGION
IDF destroys key Tehran bunker used by top brass; Trump vows no deal until Iran surrenders (TOI 3/6/26)
“A massive Israeli strike Friday morning destroyed the underground Tehran bunker of Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, which was being used by senior regime officials, the IDF announced, as the US-Israeli bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic continued into its seventh day. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said the assault would not let up until Iran announced its unconditional surrender…In the opening strike of the war, the IDF struck and killed Khamenei while he was at his compound, but not in the bunker buried deep underground.” See also Iran state media confirms killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after US-Israeli missile strikes (The Guardian 3/1/26); Israel Targeted Top Iranian Leaders in Attack’s Opening Strikes (NYT 2/28/26); Trump demands Iran’s ‘unconditional surrender’ as bombs pound Tehran and Beirut (The Guardian 3/6/26)
Israel and U.S. Trumpet Their Collaboration in War Against Iran (NYT 3/4/26)
“For the U.S. military, going into combat alongside allies is nothing new. For Israel, it’s a novelty. But military leaders in both countries are speaking about their exceptionally close collaboration in their joint campaign against Iran. Four days into the fighting, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described Israel’s military as an equal partner in the air assault on Iran…Israel and the United States have carved up the airspace over Iran, officials from both countries say, with Israel attacking targets in western and central Iran and the United States attacking in the south. Hundreds of U.S. troops are stationed in Israel, including the aircrews of dozens of fighter jets, soldiers operating air-defense weapons like the THAAD missile-defense system and soldiers managing logistics, jet fuel and ammunition, according to U.S. and Israeli officials. Dozens of American air tankers — vital to Israel’s ability to maintain a continuous attack on targets more than 600 miles from its border — have been based at Ben-Gurion International Airport, Israel’s largest international airport, which has been closed since the start of the war, the officials said…Below the highest ranks, U.S. and Israeli officials say that coordination is occurring at every level in the chain of command, with 4,000 to 5,000 calls each day between the two militaries. Unsurprisingly, Israeli leaders have praised President Trump and the U.S. military at every opportunity. But the plaudits are mutual.” See also The C.I.A. Helped Pinpoint a Gathering of Iranian Leaders. Then Israel Struck. (NYT 3/1/26); Netanyahu Takes His Shot at Regime Change in Iran (NYT 2/28/26); An Emboldened Israel Is Seizing Opportunities to Remake Region (NYT 3/3/26); Trump Demands to Select Next Iranian Supreme Leader, Opposes Khamenei’s Son (Haaretz 3/6/26);
IDF planning for at least 1-2 more weeks of Iran ops; over 5,000 bombs dropped (TOI 3/5/26)
“The Israeli military is planning for at least one or two more weeks of operations against Iran, during which it aims to hit thousands more Iranian regime targets, The Times of Israel learned on Wednesday…As of Wednesday, the Israeli Air Force had dropped more than 5,000 bombs during strikes in Iran since the start of the conflict, the military said. The military added that IAF fighter jets “continue to deepen air superiority throughout Iran, with an emphasis on the Tehran area.”…A senior Israeli air force officer said Israel’s strikes have killed thousands of Iranian soldiers.” See also Death toll in Iran tops 1,000 (Drop Site 3/4/26); Civilian deaths in Iran pass 700 amid fear of bombs and regime clampdown (The Guardian 3/2/26); ‘If they don’t stop, Tehran will turn into Gaza’: Iranians describe night of terror (The Guardian 3/6/26); US investigators believe strike on Iranian girls’ school probably carried out by US forces (The Guardian 3/6/26); Death toll from school bombing in southern Iran reportedly rises to 165 (The Guardian 3/1/26);
Israel launches huge strikes against south Beirut after mass evacuation order (The Guardian 3/5/26)
“Israel has launched massive strikes against the southern suburbs of Beirut just hours after its military ordered the entire population of the area – more than 500,000 people – to evacuate immediately. The Israel Defense Forces had told all residents of the area to “save your lives and evacuate your homes immediately”, prompting an exodus of the Lebanese capital’s population in scenes of panic, before its warplanes launched strikes against what it claimed were Hezbollah targets in the area. The area covered by the order included several hospitals and government ministries. The strikes marked a significant escalation in Israel’s growing offensive in Lebanon, which began after Hezbollah fired missiles and drones into Israel on Monday.” See also IDF issues unprecedented evacuation warning for entire Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut (TOI 3/5/26); Mass Expulsion in Lebanon as Israel Expands War: “We Don’t Know Where to Go” (Drop Site 3/4/26); Hezbollah said to have launched drone that struck UK RAF airbase in Cyprus (The Guardian 3/2/26); Israel strikes Lebanon after Iran ally Hezbollah fires missiles over border (The Guardian 3/2/26); Israeli airstrikes pound Beirut suburb, Hezbollah warns Israelis (Al Monitor 3/6/26); Hezbollah saw new war with Israel as inevitable and rearmed for months, sources say (Al Monitor 3/6/26);
Israel advances in south Lebanon as army withdraws, Quds leader killed (Al Monitor 3/3/26)
“Lebanese troops withdrew from multiple southern border posts on Tuesday after the Israeli military started to advance further inside Lebanese territory…The Lebanese army evacuated “advanced positions” along Israel’s border and deployed to other positions, Lebanon’s state-run news agency said on Tuesday after Israel ordered its troops to advance further into southern Lebanon.” See also Israel Advances in Lebanon and Seizes More Land, as Hezbollah Fight Escalates (NYT 3/3/26); Dozens of IRGC members flee Lebanon, Israeli officials say (Axios 3/5/26);
Iran’s Cluster Missiles: What You Need to Know About the Controversial Weapon Targeting Israel (Haaretz 3/3/26)
“Israeli defense officials say Iran is using cluster missiles in the war against Israel, a type of munition first used against the country in the 12-day war last June. These missiles carry a warhead designed to split midair at seven kilometers (about five miles) above ground and disperse smaller bomblets across an eight-kilometer radius. On Tuesday, two such missiles were fired in barrages toward central Israel, causing damage and injuries in a number of locations. The dispersal of many small bombs from such a high altitude causes damage over a much wider area than a single missile, but the individual impact of each is significantly smaller…But cluster missiles are often regarded as more dangerous than a regular missile, especially when intercepted on its way to Israel. If it completes its trajectory, all its bomblets will detonate when it hits the ground. But if the missile is intercepted mid-air, the bomblets may fall to the ground and either explode on impact or remain as a threat that will explode later.”
9 Killed in Israeli City Near Jerusalem After Iranian Missile Strike (NYT 3/1/26)
“The Israeli military and the country’s ambulance service said an Iranian missile had caused the widespread destruction. It was not immediately clear what the target of the strike was, but the Israeli military accused Iran of aiming at civilians.” See also ‘I can’t digest it’: deadliest attack on Israel since war began kills nine and destroys synagogue (The Guardian 3/3/26); Sirens sound in Tel Aviv, central Israel, West Bank as Iran fires ballistic missiles (Haaretz 3/6/26); Over 2,300 Israelis Evacuated From Their Homes Due to Iran War Damage (Haaretz 3/6/26); ‘Depart now’: US tells its citizens to urgently leave almost all Mideast countries, including Israel (TOI 3/3/26);
Thousands of Missiles and Drones: Iran’s Attacks on Gulf States Reveal Where It Is Focusing Its War Effort (Haaretz 3/5/26)
“Iran launched thousands of ballistic missiles and drones at seven Persian Gulf states in the first five days of the war, according to official data collected by Haaretz. The data showed that at least 2,191 missiles and attack drones were fired from Iran toward the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. Iran also struck targets in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Oman, but those countries have not published data on the total number of launches into their territory. Iran has been attacking U.S. bases located in these states and has also hit strategic infrastructure, including refineries, ports and airports. Hotels, commercial centers and residential buildings were also damaged…The reported interception rate appears high: 2,087 missiles and drones were shot down in total…On Thursday morning, Iran attacked Azerbaijan for the first time, and attack drones were documented striking Nakhchivan’s airport near the border with Iran. On Wednesday, Iran fired a ballistic missile toward Turkey, which was intercepted. Cyprus was also attacked with missiles and drones, which, according to estimates, were launched by Hezbollah.” See also Middle East war could be decided by who runs out of missiles or interceptors first, analysts say (The Guardian 3/3/26);
CIA, Mossad bolster Iran’s Kurds as US, Israel seek to ignite military revolt (Al Monitor 3/6/26)
“While Israeli officials avoid publicly discussing the possibility that Iranian Kurds could join the US-Israeli campaign against Tehran, Israel is quietly encouraging ethnic groups inside Iran that oppose the regime to mobilize. Senior Israeli officials who have spoken with Al-Monitor since the start of the military operation against Iran say the goal is to create conditions for the Iranian people to overthrow the regime in Tehran. Associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu say the Israeli government believes the first cracks in the regime are emerging…Israeli aircraft have been conducting heavy strikes near the Iraq-Iran border crossings, apparently aiming to clear regime forces from the area so Kurdish fighters could cross safely…According to foreign sources, several Western intelligence agencies — including the Mossad and the CIA — have been working for some time to destabilize the Iranian regime. The plan, they say, envisions Kurdish forces entering from the west, sparking uprisings from other minorities and armed groups. The hope is that this could fuel the first signs of defections and rebellion within the regular Iranian army, separate from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to the sources, Israel and the United States are investing significant resources in these efforts.”
Iran-backed militias intensify attacks against US, Israel and allies (The Guardian 3/6/26)
“Iran-backed militias around the Middle East are intensifying attacks against Israel, the US and their allies, in retaliation for the ongoing joint US-Israeli offensive against Tehran as the war draws in new armed actors, threatening wider chaos and violence. Israel and the US have targeted Iran’s network of militant groups, with Iraq emerging as a key front in this new and often clandestine confrontation. Militia in Iraq have launched dozens of attacks since the war began on Saturday, targeting Israel and US bases in Jordan and Iraq itself…Israel and the US are trying to degrade the capabilities of pro-Iranian militias in Iraq with airstrikes and special forces operations on the ground, according to analysts and well-informed former regional intelligence officials.” See also U.S. and Allies Encounter Iran’s Arsenal of Drones (NYT 3/3/26); Iran Hits Back Across the Mideast, Targeting U.S. Bases and Allies (NYT 2/28/26);
Trump demands immediate pardon for Netanyahu to focus on Iran (Axios 3/5/26)
“President Trump told Axios on Thursday that Israeli President Isaac Herzog must pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “today” — calling Herzog “a disgrace” for failing to act over the last year…Trump has been pushing for a Netanyahu pardon since last June, arguing that his trial on corruption charges — ongoing since 2020 — is a “witch hunt” akin to the U.S. president’s own legal troubles. But Thursday’s comments — which Trump raised himself, unprompted — marked a dramatic escalation and direct intervention in Israel’s legal system at a moment of active war…Trump claimed Herzog promised him five times over the past year that he would grant the pardon and never followed through. “He told me he would give it to him. But he has held it over Bibi’s head for a year.” “Tell him I am exposing him. That president better damn well give him the pardon right now — and stop using it as leverage for his own political career,” he said…A senior Israeli official pushed back on Trump’s account, saying Herzog never promised a pardon.”
GAZA
‘We’ll run out of food this week’: Israel’s Iran war brings new Gaza siege (The Guardian 3/2/26)
“Israel closed all crossings into Gaza indefinitely when it attacked Iran, imposing a siege that has already pushed up food prices and threatens to plunge 2 million people into a new hunger crisis. After more than two years of war, and with Israeli forces in control of about 60% of the territory, almost all of Gaza’s food must be brought in. Humanitarian groups feeding much of the population say the supplies they had on Saturday, when the war began, will only last a few more days.” See also Israel Opens One Gaza Crossing for Humanitarian Aid After U.S. Pressure (Haaretz 3/4/26)
‘It Feels Like Money Is Melting’: In Gaza, a Cash Crisis Makes Daily Life Harder, Fuels Talk of Cryptocurrency (Haaretz 3/2/26)
“After two years of war that decimated infrastructure, displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents and shattered its banking system, the enclave is facing an ongoing liquidity crisis. Since the start of Ramadan, traders, aid workers and residents say the shortage of physical currency has worsened. Prices are rising not only because of the scarcity of goods, but because cash itself is scarce. And only three days into the US.-Israel war with Iran, all crossings into Gaza are closed again, causing an immediate shortage of fuel and food staples, that is expected to worsen the situation. The crisis has grown so acute that, according to recent news reports, the newly formed Board of Peace, tasked with spearheading Gaza’s reconstruction, is exploring the possibility of introducing a stablecoin pegged to a mainstream currency such as the U.S. dollar. The goal, officials familiar with the discussions reportedly said, is to create a digital payment system that could stabilize transactions in a territory where banks barely function and cash is both king and an endangered species. But on the ground in Gaza, the theory of cryptocurrency collides with the reality of patchy internet – thanks to damaged infrastructure and electricity shortages – and banned digital wallets.”
RIVER TO THE SEA
With West Bank under total Israeli closure, settlers are seizing the moment (Oren Ziv & Basel Adra//+972 Magazine 3/4/26)
“With global attention fixed on the escalating U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, Israel has imposed a total military closure on the occupied West Bank. Israeli settlers, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to try to expel more rural Palestinian communities from their land, as they did in the days immediately following October 7. Within hours of the war beginning on Saturday morning, the Israeli army shut all checkpoints across the West Bank and blocked roads between cities and villages with iron gates and earth mounds. It also installed new iron gates in locations where none had previously existed. Settlers brought in excavators to seal makeshift passages Palestinians had carved out over the past two and a half years, in areas where the army has kept roads closed since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza…For residents of Ramallah and its surrounding towns and villages, access to the main roads leading to the rest of the West Bank has been cut off entirely…As Palestinian remain under lockdown, Israeli settlers continue to move freely, escalating their attacks on Palestinian communities across Area C. According to the NGO Yesh Din, at least 50 incidents of settler violence were documented in 37 different Palestinian communities during the first four days of the war alone. In almost every instance, settlers operate with the support of the Israeli army — some of whom are settlers wearing military uniform — to complete whatever mission they are trying to carry out.” See also Rights group reports 50 settler attacks on Palestinians during 1st four days of Iran war (TOI 3/5/26); Who would burn their own house down? (Mohammad Hesham Huraini//Vashti 3/3/26)
Palestinian Brothers Killed as Settler Violence Surges in the West Bank (NYT 3/2/26)
“Two Palestinian brothers were shot dead by Israeli fire in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Monday during a confrontation with Jewish settlers over land, according to local residents and the Palestinian Ministry of Health…A local resident who witnessed one of the shootings and the Palestinian health ministry said Jewish settlers killed the brothers in the village of Qaryut, in the northern West Bank. Villagers said five other members of the brothers’ extended family were injured. Muhammad Al-Boom, 20, a Qaryut resident and a paramedic, said he was by the side of one brother, Muhammad Taha, who stepped out of his house to try to prevent the settlers from entering his property. Video footage distributed by a local group showed about a dozen masked settlers at the scene. Mr. al-Boom said he then saw Mr. Taha get shot in the head.” See also Iran War Fails to Halt West Bank Expulsions as Palestinian Community Leaves After Settler Harassment (Haaretz 3/6/26);
Vast majority of Israelis support the war against Iran, while most Americans oppose it, polls find (JI 3/4/26)
“More than 80% of Israelis support the war against Iran, polls by two major Israeli research institutions found this week, while several U.S. polls found that a majority of Americans oppose it. The Israel Democracy Institute found that 82% of Israelis — 93% of Jewish Israelis and 26% of Israeli Arabs — support the war with Iran. Among Jewish Israelis, the war has strong support across the political spectrum, with 76% of respondents on the left backing it, 93% of voters from the center and 97% from the right…Meanwhile, in the U.S., a CNN poll, conducted by SSRS shortly after the war began on Saturday, found that nearly 41% of Americans approve of the U.S. military action in Iran, with a sharp divide between Republicans, Democrats and independents — 77% of Republicans approve of the launch of the operation, compared to 32% of independents and 18% of Democrats. The poll found that 59% of Americans disapprove of the U.S. decision to strike.” See also Netanyahu’s latest war has few critics in an Israel embracing militarism (The Guardian 3/1/26); 81% of Israelis back Iran strikes, INSS poll finds (i24News 3/4/26)
We are at war, therefore we are (Orly Noy//+972 Magazine 3/1/26)
“The Iranian people are waging a brave and inspiring struggle for their freedom. The international community has diplomatic and economic tools to assist them without repeated airstrikes that promise little in terms of lasting change. To cheer the Israeli-American assault is to embrace a cannibalistic global order in which strength alone defines morality. In celebrating the war, Israelis are celebrating that system: a world in which the bully sets the rules. For now, they can be relieved that the bully is on their side…However precarious [Netanyahu’s] political position may be, he knows that uniting even his fiercest rivals across the Zionist spectrum is only a click away. If “in wartime there is no coalition or opposition,” then perpetual war becomes his most reliable political strategy — and he has learned to deploy it with increasing frequency. Netanyahu is a cynical and dangerous war criminal. But one thing cannot be denied: No Israeli leader has so deeply understood the collective psyche of Jewish Israeli society. A society that seems capable of feeling its own pulse only in war and destruction; that, if it is not attacking, destroying, and killing, is not entirely certain that it exists. In that sense, Netanyahu fits it like a glove.”
U.S. SCENE
US strikes on Iran triggered by Israel’s plan to launch attack, Rubio says (The Guardian 3/2/26)
“Israel’s determination to attack Iran and the certainty that US troops would be targeted in response forced the Trump administration to take pre-emptive strikes, the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said, in a new explanation for Washington’s surprise entry into the conflict…“It was abundantly clear that if Iran came under attack by anyone – the United States or Israel or anyone – they were going to respond, and respond against the United States,” Rubio told reporters at the Capitol. “We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.”’ See also The Trump Administration’s Iran War Justifications Keep Changing (Foreign Policy 3/3/26); Trump Letter to Congress Justifying Iran Strikes Outlines No Imminent Threat (NYT 3/3/26); Pentagon tells Congress no sign that Iran was going to attack US first, sources say (Reuters 3/1/26);
Rubio’s war remarks blow open MAGA’s Israel divide (Axios 3/3/26)
“MAGA’s ascendant “America First” wing erupted after Secretary of State Marco Rubio effectively blamed Israel for drawing the U.S. into war with Iran…Rubio’s remarks were the first time a Trump official had so explicitly acknowledged Israel as a driving force behind the war — landing at a moment when Americans’ public support for Israel has hit historic lows…Rubio’s remarks were widely interpreted as making the U.S. look subordinate to Israel’s interests. And they inflamed already angry MAGA elites who had spent the day railing against President Trump’s decision to go to war. On their podcasts and social media, frustrated pro-Trump influencers argued the president had become beholden to the military hawks and neocons he explicitly ran against. Anti-Israel voices on the right — as well as openly antisemitic influencers who’ve clawed toward the mainstream in recent years — claimed vindication.” See also Rubio Walks Back Suggestion That Israel Forced U.S. Hand in Iran Strikes (NYT 3/3/26);
US troops were told war on Iran was ‘all part of God’s divine plan’, watchdog alleges (The Guardian 3/3/26)
“US military commanders have been invoking extremist Christian rhetoric about biblical “end times” to justify involvement in the Iran war to troops, according to complaints made to a watchdog group. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) says it has received more than 200 complaints from service members across all branches of the armed forces, including the marines, air force and space force. One complainant, identified as a noncommissioned officer (NCO) in a unit that could be deployed “at any moment to join” operations against Iran, told MRFF in a complaint viewed by the Guardian that their commander had “urged us to tell our troops that this was ‘all part of God’s divine plan’ and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ”. “He said that ‘President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth’”, the NCO added.”
Senators demand investigation after ninth American killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers in West Bank (The Guardian 3/5/26)
“More than 30 US senators have signed a letter demanding that the Trump administration open an independent investigation into the February killing of a 19-year-old American in the occupied West Bank, the ninth US citizen killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers since 2022. The letter, led by Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and addressed to the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio; the US attorney general, Pam Bondi; and the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, asks for a US-led investigation and a full accounting of where all nine cases stand, and for the administration to brief Congress on the killing by 5 April. None of the cases have resulted in a criminal conviction. “This has now become a consistent pattern in which Americans are being killed in the West Bank by settlers or the [Israel Defense Forces (IDF)] without justice or accountability, despite promises from US officials,” the lawmakers wrote in the Wednesday letter, which was shared exclusively with the Guardian.”
Jewish Groups Are Backing a War Americans Don’t Want (Josh Nathan-Kazis 3/3/26)
“Each of the major Jewish establishment groups have put out statements supporting the war…Mainstream American Jewish groups have long committed themselves to the foreign policy of the Israeli right, and their response on Saturday is by no means a surprise. This is the war, after all, that Netanyahu has been demanding since the 1990s, and the war that the hardline pro-Israel crowd has fought to get him ever since…And yet their political positioning currently puts them at odds with most Americans, who think the war is a bad idea…The Jewish establishment wants to project an image of unified American Jewish support for this new war. And yet they do so at a moment of extraordinary political weakness, when Democrats increasingly see AIPAC as toxic, and the power that groups like Conference of Presidents were able to exert in Washington just a decade ago have been vastly diluted. They have little political capital to expend, and they’ve bet it all on a risky and unpopular foreign entanglement. In the meantime, they are setting up American Jews to take the blame if the war goes badly, as it appears destined to do. Though left-wing and progressive Jews have tried to distinguish between Jews and Israel in the American imagination, mainstream Jewish institutions have done their best to confuse the issue, conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism.” See also Judge Vacates Punishments of Columbia Students Who Occupied a Building (NYT 3/3/26);
The Day Israel Lost America (Ross Barkan//NY Mag 3/6/36)
“The fiercest supporters of Israel in the United States do not quite understand that there is no going back…Poll after poll shows that Americans under 40 take a startlingly dim view of Israel. For a while, Israel hawks could dismiss these polls because they showed only the left-wing youth turning on the Jewish State. They were the radicals who could be, perhaps, nudged off the political stage. Now young people on the right, the MAGA youth, are coming to a similar place, if for different reasons: They view the special relationship between the two countries as a violation of America First. Some of this might be antisemitism; some of it, though, is genuine skepticism of an arrangement that doesn’t make sense to most Americans…The Iran war could be what decisively breaks the United States from Israel. Not yet — certainly not now, with Trump in the White House. But there will be presidents after Trump. A future Democrat will have no incentive to cater to the whims of a warmongering Israel. A Republican not explicitly bound to pro-Israel, right-wing Evangelicals might not care a great deal about Israel, either. Why should he? The American people do not want this war with Iran. They don’t want their brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters to die. They see this for what it is: a cataclysm.” See also In Illinois, AIPAC-Backed Candidates Defected on Iran (Alex Kane//Jewish Currents 3/6/26); Newsom likens Israel to ‘apartheid state,’ questions future military support (Politico 3/4/26);
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
It’s Not Complicated (Sara Yasin//The Key 3/5/26)
“I left my job as managing editor of the Los Angeles Times in January 2024, not long into the genocide. That decision wasn’t explicitly about Palestine — I did not want to make a career out of layoffs and managing decline. But during those last months at the paper and in the time that followed, that terrible gap between what we could see in real time on our phones and in the tortured inversions and baseline disinformation of Western media made me feel a specific kind of shame that made it impossible to imagine returning to that kind of environment. The Times was my first real brush with legacy media — and there I understood how “it’s complicated” journalism functions. A long-standing institution can have a set way of doing things baked into its culture, which can make so much of its day-to-day operation run on autopilot. Since October 7, I have spoken to dozens of journalists across different organizations with similar constraints. Many have told me that, especially in coverage of Palestine, questioning the calcified “both sides” approach meant risking being branded a troublemaker or an “activist,” even when their reasoning was rooted in conventional journalistic standards…What stories would the journalists and writers who have contributed to these outlets produce if they weren’t having to work through arguments about whether Palestinians are worthy of humanization? How might we better understand our own lives, our own agency, our own complicity if our media were allowed to actually reflect reality back at us? In an era of mass disinformation, confusion and despondency, the need for urgent, fearless journalism has never been greater.”
Learn With Ms Rachel review – undoubtedly the TV event of the year for millions of us (The Guardian 3/2/26)
“And so, after a brief prologue in which we are asked to share pretend ice-cream, a doorbell rings: “Rahaf’s here!” We cut to Ms Rachel sitting on the floor with a button-nosed three-year-old on her lap. As well as being preposterously cute, Rahaf is a double amputee: unmentioned in the video is that she lost her legs when an Israeli airstrike hit her home in Gaza. Her mother brought her to the US for surgery, but her father and two brothers were not permitted to go with them. Pictures of Rahaf in hospital in previous reports can only gesture at the catastrophe that she and her family endured; but here she is, pretending to nap alongside the titular rabbits of Hop Little Bunnies, bouncing sunnily from side to side when they wake up, then hurling herself back into Ms Rachel’s arms. Accurso has always sought to emphasise that she wants every child to have the same freedom that she claims for Rahaf, and the rest of the episode serves as proof of the principle. We learn how to say hello in Arabic, Hebrew, Spanish, French, Tagalog and American sign language…”
Iran Is Not an Existential Threat (Peter Beinart//Jewish Currents 3/6/26)
“But Iran doesn’t pose a significant threat to Israel, let alone the United States. Even at its strongest, Tehran has merely challenged Israel’s dominance of the Middle East, not its survival. Yet the claim that Iran existentially threatens the Jewish state is rarely disputed in mainstream American debate, even by politicians who oppose war.”
How Israel Lost Americans (Michelle Goldberg//NYT 2/27/26)
“Israel’s imploding reputation is largely a consequence of its oppression of the Palestinians…But it’s not just Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians that have eroded Americans’ good will toward Israel. Perhaps as important has been Israel’s role in American politics. For decades, pro-Israel organizations in the United States have struggled mightily to control the parameters of acceptable debate about the Jewish state. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has spent countless millions intervening in primary elections…Israel’s allies have pushed speech codes defining anti-Zionism as antisemitism. They’ve passed anti-boycott laws used to punish American enterprises that refuse to do business not just with Israel proper but also with Israelis in the occupied territories. Efforts to make harsh criticism of Israel verboten redoubled after Oct. 7…By aligning Zionism with American authoritarianism, Israel’s champions earned the country the enmity of many Democratic partisans…The blowback will almost certainly get much worse now that Trump, working in concert with Israel, has bombed Iran, just as Netanyahu long hoped. Americans don’t want a war, and Trump hasn’t bothered to explain why he might wage one. In this murk, conspiracy theories about Israel manipulating America into another Middle Eastern conflict are bound to flourish, especially because there will be a grain of truth to them. Friday’s Gallup poll marks a low point in American sentiments toward Israel, but they could still have much further to fall.”
‘Compulsive repetition’: How permanent war shapes the Israeli psyche (Dana Mills//+972 Magazine 3/4/26)
“As always, the experience of war itself is shaped by Israeli apartheid across the land between the river and the sea. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have no shelters to escape bombardment, while Palestinian citizens of Israel have far less stable infrastructure to protect them from ballistic missiles. At times it seems as if Netanyahu and his government are committed to a state of permanent war and instability in the region, one in which all human beings are forced to live with constant vulnerability and precarity. Since Saturday morning, between running to the safe room and trying to think about the short- and medium-term future, I have been reflecting on the psychological consequences of this situation. To better understand the personal and political implications of living in a state of perpetual war, I spoke with Dr. Dana Amir, a clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, author, and poet.”
Pahlavi? IRGC? What’s next for Iran after Khamenei (Lior Sternfeld//+972 Magazine 3/3/26)
“For the people of Iran, the most desirable outcome would of course be a transition to a democratic republic. Unfortunately, this appears the least likely scenario, with too many powerful actors opposing that prospect…One possibility, therefore, is that the regime survives with merely a change in personnel at the top — continuing to oppress the population at home, while confronting the United States and its allies across the region…Another possibility is the survival of the regime in name but with a complete overhaul of the state apparatus. In this scenario, a “moderate” successor to Khamenei would take the reins and keep the weakened state intact, preventing the chaotic outcome of a failed state lacking any centralized power or authority, as in the case of Iraq following the 2003 invasion…A further possibility is a takeover by parts of the IRGC, turning Iran into a military dictatorship that pays lip service to the revolution while arguing that it has run its course, and declaring that it will work with the West to lift sanctions and rebuild Iran’s economy and military, effectively becoming a U.S. ally…And what about Reza Pahlavi? Due to his name recognition and the absence of other viable alternatives, he has gained more support over the past few months both inside Iran and among parts of the international community. But even in the wake of the recent demonstrations, he has failed miserably at uniting the opposition, alienating virtually everyone outside of his immediate circles of support.”
The Contrapuntal Body (Alaa Alqaisi//The Key 3/4/26)
“In exile, I feel two cities folding through each other, the chill here, the remembered heat there, the clean air and the wind heavy with dust. I was struggling to find language to explain how this felt until I remembered a concept that I learned about long ago: the “contrapuntal.” Edward Said first introduced the idea of reading works of literature contrapuntally — a way of reading empire and resistance at the same time — in Culture and Imperialism, a collection of essays published in 1993. Using the example of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, Said implored the reader to notice how the calm and order of an English estate depends on an unseen plantation in Antigua. This is a way to keep several histories in mind at once and to hold those realities together at the same time. Over time in Dublin, I have felt Said’s intellectual proposition migrate into muscle memory, and I have begun to think of my body as a site of contrapuntal awareness: one rhythm drawn from Gaza’s relentless summers, another from Dublin’s restrained winters, two synchronized tempos in the same nervous system. I have learned to see through rather than into, to read surfaces as one reads history, layered, scarred and alive beneath their own restraint.”
‘Dirty Work’ (Nathan Thrall//NYRB 3/26/26 issue)
“S. Yizhar was the pen name of Yizhar Smilansky, an intelligence officer in Israel’s Givati Brigade during the 1948 war and a founding father of modern Hebrew literature. Khirbet Khizeh, a novella based on his experience in the war, is a parable about the destruction and erasure of a Palestinian village…It is no accident that what for many years was regarded as the only Israeli work of fiction to confront the Nakba was written in May 1949, when the graves were still fresh, most of the churches and mosques still standing. In their first years of statehood, Israelis were well aware of the ethnic cleansing they had perpetrated, the swift reduction of a Palestinian majority into a minority. They had seen the columns of haggard refugees. They had looted the furniture and valuables left behind. They had helped new immigrants move into emptied Palestinian homes. They had watched bulldozers destroy ancient villages, and they had planted trees that covered up the crime. Their own army intelligence assessment of June 1948 had determined that most refugees were driven out by “Jewish military action” and not by calls from Arab leaders to flee, as later Israeli propaganda asserted. Denial had not yet taken hold. And so it was that Khirbet Khizeh could become an acclaimed and best-selling book when it was published in September 1949. The subject of expulsion was not yet taboo, and most of the critics didn’t focus on it.”
Israel’s last war alongside an imperial power backfired. This one could, too (Meron Rapoport//+972 Magazine 3/5/26)
“This time, Washington and Tel Aviv march openly in lockstep, and their shared objectives go beyond establishing a new regional order. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently praised Israel as a “capable partner” that fights “without stupid rules of engagement” unlike “so many of our traditional allies who wring their hands and clutch their pearls, hemming and hawing about the use of force.” His Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, could not have formulated today’s Israeli war ethic better…If, in 1956, Israel could conquer the Sinai Peninsula alone, this time, too, it did not truly need a Western power to strike Iran and severely damage its nuclear and missile programs. It proved that last June. Therefore, the decision to act jointly appears tied precisely to the “larger” objectives: regime change and a reordered Middle East. It is not certain those goals can be achieved (at least through the chosen means of aerial bombardment), but what is clear is that Israel lacks the sufficient military power and political capital to attempt such a project alone. That can only be done shoulder-to-shoulder with a global power like the United States — and only through an openly imperial war.”