NEW FROM FMEP
Sde Teiman & Permission to Rape (Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart is joined by Sari Bashi (Executive Director, Public Committee Against Torture in Israeli) to discuss the dismissal of charges against five Israeli soldiers who were filmed violently abusing a Palestinian detainee in the Sde Teiman facility – as well as the torture of Palestinians in Israeli custody more generally.
The Gulf Countries and the American Security Umbrella – What Comes Next? (Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with analyst Annelle Sheline about the history of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. They discuss the state of the American “security umbrella” from the perspective of leadership in Qatar and Saudi Arabia and the perspective that American military bases are liabilities. They also look at prospects for greater regional integration due to greater insecurity.
FMEP Legislative Round-Up March 20, 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 20, 2026 (Kristin McCarthy)
1.WEST BANK: New Enclave in Hebron, Officer Invades Area A to Remove Archaeological Artifact, Outpost Demolitions & Hilltop Youth Protest; 2. STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERRORISM; 3. Further Reading
GLOBAL/REGION
Trump rules out ceasefire with Iran, says Israel will agree to end war when he’s ready (TOI 3/20/26)
“US President Donald Trump on Friday ruled out a ceasefire with Iran, as American officials said more US Marines were headed to the Middle East in a possible sign of a coming ground operation three weeks into the war. A possible target for the troops could be Iran’s Kharg Island, with the White House telling AFP the United States could “take out” the vital oil hub at any time if Trump chose. The Axios news outlet reported that Trump was considering an occupation or blockade of the island to pressure Tehran to reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz.” See also Iranian Officials Say They Have Been Ignoring Witkoff’s Private Requests to Talk (Jeremy Scahill//Drop Site 3/16/26); Jared Kushner Solicits Funds for His Firm While Working as Mideast Envoy (NYT 3/13/26);
On 20th day of war, Netanyahu says Iran can no longer enrich uranium, build missiles (TOI 3/20/26)
“Iran can no longer enrich uranium or manufacture ballistic missiles, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday. “After 20 days, I can tell you — Iran today has no ability to enrich uranium, and no ability to produce ballistic missiles,” said Netanyahu in Jerusalem, speaking at his first in-person press conference since the launch of the US-Israel campaign against Iran on February 28. “We are continuing to crush these capabilities. We will crush them to dust, to ashes,” he said in a Hebrew statement to open the bilingual press conference. Iran “is weaker than ever” while Israel is a regional power “and some would say a world power,” he says.” See also Netanyahu transcript: ‘We have to be more powerful than the barbarians, or they will crash our gates, destroy our societies’ (TOI 3/20/26); Fragment from downed Iranian missile impacts in Jerusalem’s Old City; (TOI 3/20/26); Iranian cluster bombs kill Thai worker in Israel, 4 Palestinian women in West Bank (TOI 3/19/26); IDF Data: Over 90 Percent of Iranian Missiles Fired at Israel Have Been Intercepted (Haaretz 3/20/26);
Israel strikes Iran’s South Pars gasfield hours after forces kill intelligence minister (The Guardian 3/18/26)
“Israel struck Iran’s giant South Pars gasfield on Wednesday, marking a major escalation of the war, hours after Israeli forces killed the regime’s intelligence minister and launched some of the most intense airstrikes in Beirut for decades. The attack on the Pars site in the Persian Gulf, which Iran shares with Qatar and constitutes the world’s largest natural gasfield, prompted Tehran to warn neighbouring states that their energy infrastructure could be targeted “within hours”, and triggered furious rebukes from Qatar and other nations in the region.” See also Israel strikes Iran natural gas facility in coordination with U.S. (Axios 3/18/26); Iran says it will show ‘zero restraint’ if energy infrastructure is targeted again (The Guardian 3/19/26); For Iranians, Bombing of Gas Field Worsens Already Dire Energy Crisis (NYT 3/18/26);
Iran expands energy targets beyond Gulf as Red Sea and East Med come into play (Al Monitor 3/19/26)
“Iran is widening the geographic scope of energy strikes as it trades blows with the United States and Israel. On Wednesday and Thursday, Tehran looked beyond its immediate Gulf neighborhood to target infrastructure along the Red Sea and in the eastern Mediterranean — a shift that could further destabilize already strained global energy markets…After initially targeting a select number of oil and gas facilities across Gulf countries during the first two weeks of the war, Iran’s campaign against regional energy infrastructure has intensified and broadened in recent days. The shift came after President Donald Trump announced US strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island export hub last Friday, followed by Israel’s attack on the South Pars gas field on Wednesday. In response, Iran has escalated retaliatory measures, including a major strike on Qatar’s Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas export complex. At the same time, Iran is extending its reach. On Thursday, a drone hit Saudi Arabia’s Samref refinery in the western port city of Yanbu, where the export terminal briefly halted crude loadings, per reports…Meanwhile, an Iranian missile also struck Israel’s Haifa refinery on Thursday, one of the first reported hits on Israeli energy infrastructure during the current conflict.” See also Saudi Arabia reserves right to take military action against Iran, foreign minister says (TOI 3/20/26);
Israel Blew Open an Energy War With Iran That Trump Will Find Hard to Stop (Ben Samuels//Haaretz 3/19/26)
“The past 24 hours in the U.S.–Israel war against Iran marked the most significant escalation for all affected parties since the war’s launch. The conflict, already rapidly redefining the global status quo, has not only threatened to upend global energy markets and shake U.S.–Gulf ties, but also brought the latest public airing of the dirty laundry between Washington and Jerusalem. Israel’s targeting of Iran’s South Pars gas field on Wednesday was a brazen move after it had earlier told the U.S. that it would not target fuel depots or any other energy infrastructure. Iran’s expansion of retaliatory strikes – most crucially on Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City and natural gas facilities vital to the global energy market – is a significant indication that the Iranian regime is willing to match escalation with escalation, and treats the conflict as existential with little interest in an off-ramp. What appeared to be most significant, however, was U.S. President Donald Trump’s first apparent attempt at toning things down in nearly three weeks. Trump forcefully insisted that both the U.S. and Qatar lacked any advance knowledge of Israel’s strike on South Pars. This is despite various reports claiming that the U.S. had advance knowledge and did not block the strike in order to send a message to Iran that efforts to block oil trade via the Strait of Hormuz would not be tolerated…Despite his threats, the clearest message from Trump’s comments was his apparent disapproval of Israel’s actions (even if made retroactively and cynically).” See also After Tehran strikes, Trump says Israel won’t attack Iran gas fields anymore (Axios 3/19/26); Israeli Officials Said U.S. Was Told About South Pars Attack (NYT 3/19/26); Trump Says U.S. and Qatar Not Involved in Strike on Iran’s South Pars Gas Field (NYT 3/19/26);
U.S. Dispatches Marines and Warships to Middle East (NYT 3/20/26)
“About 2,500 additional Marines aboard three warships are heading to the Middle East, U.S. military officials said Friday, as the Trump administration’s war on Iran continued to prompt Iranian retaliatory strikes largely closing the Strait of Hormuz…Marine Expeditionary Units can rapidly put detachments of troops and vehicles on the ground. Keeping a force of them in the region allows commanders to quickly launch small-scale ground operations with infantry Marines.”
As Israel Calls for an Uprising in Iran, Basij Militias Vow to Crush Opposition to the State (Drop Site 3/17/26)
“The Israeli military announced Tuesday that it had carried out an airstrike in Tehran assassinating the commander of the paramilitary Basij force, Gholamreza Soleimani. The Basij, otherwise known as the Basij-e Mostazafin, or “Mobilization of the Oppression” are a volunteer militia operating under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that is critical to the Islamic Republic’s internal security and has been blamed for carrying out some of its most extreme domestic oppression. The strike came on the same day Israel assassinated Ali Larijani, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and a leading political figure in the country…Israel has publicly said these bombings are aimed at provoking a revolution or coup via aerial bombardment…The following dispatch, filed by a reporter in Tehran, features interviews with members of the Basij…If people do rise up against the government inside Iran, the Basij have vowed to forcefully confront anyone they see as supporting the U.S. and Israel.” See also Netanyahu Hopes Strikes on Iran Will Lead to Uprising and Regime Change (NYT 3/18/26); Israel says it killed Iran’s intelligence minister (Axios 3/18/26); Israel kills Iran’s national security chief (Axios 3/17/26); Ali Larijani, Iran’s De Facto Political Leader, Killed by Israel (NYT 3/17/26);
Trump aides foresee Iran endgame divide: “Israel doesn’t hate the chaos” (Axios 3/18/26)
“Several U.S. officials described Trump as the most bullish person in the White House on going to war with Iran. He also appears more aligned with Netanyahu’s maximalist objectives than many of his aides. Officials in Washington, Tel Aviv and Tehran all know any split between the allies could define the outcome of the war…The only clear point of friction over more than two weeks of war came when Israel bombed Iranian oil storage tanks. Stabilizing the global oil market is a bigger priority for the U.S. than for Israel, officials say. The White House asked Israel not to target oil again without a clear green light from Washington. “Israel doesn’t hate the chaos. We do. We want stability. Netanyahu? Not so much, especially in Iran. They hate the Iranian government a lot more than we do,” a White House official said.”
Israel planning massive ground invasion of Lebanon, officials say (Axios 3/13/26)
“Israel is planning to significantly expand its ground operation in Lebanon, aiming to seize the entire area south of the Litani River and dismantle Hezbollah’s military infrastructure, Israeli and U.S. officials say. Why it matters: This could be the largest Israeli ground invasion of its northern neighbor since 2006, dragging Lebanon to the epicenter of the escalating war with Iran. “We are going to do what we did in Gaza,” a senior Israeli official said, referring to the flattening of buildings Israel says Hezbollah uses to store weapons and launch attacks.” See also Israel Intensifies Strikes on Beirut, Targeting Areas Once Considered Safe (NYT 3/18/26); Israel’s plan to expand Lebanon ground campaign fuels fears of prolonged occupation (The Guardian 3/16/26); As Israel prepares to implement the ‘Gaza model’ in Lebanon, where is the international reaction? (Ben Reiff//The Guardian 3/18/26);
Narrow opening: Can Lebanon’s push for talks shift Israel’s war calculus? (Al Monitor 3/20/26)
“Indirect contacts between Israel and Lebanon are ongoing after Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Thursday that his government is ready to immediately enter direct negotiations with the Israeli side to end the war. In an interview with CNN, Salam said, “To help put an end to the Lebanese conflict. I would like to reaffirm to President [Donald] Trump our readiness to enter into immediate negotiations.” He called the United States a “strategic partner” and said Trump, “more than anyone else,” could “play a decisive role” in ending the war. Although Israel, for the moment, refuses to halt military operations in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah as rocket and missile strikes continue, sources say Israel is nevertheless leaving the door open to negotiations.” See also Israel faces stiff Hezbollah resistance as it attempts to push deeper into Lebanon (The Guardian 3/18/26);
Dozens of Medical Workers Killed as Israel Hits Lebanon (NYT 3/14/26)
“Since March 2, Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 31 health professionals and wounded 51 others, the Lebanese health ministry said on Saturday. Israel has carried out at least 37 attacks against emergency medical workers, the ministry said. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, condemned the attacks on health care workers and said it marked “a tragic development in the escalating Middle East crisis.” The deaths illustrate the conflict’s intensity and the strain on a health system caring for over 2,000 civilians injured since the violence began. Some 826 people have also been killed.” See also Israel Killed Over a Dozen Lebanese Paramedics in Three Days, Now Claiming That Ambulances Are “Hezbollah” Targets (Drop Site 3/16/26)
UK security adviser ‘attended’ US-Iran talks and judged deal was within reach (The Guardian 3/17/26)
“Britain’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, attended the final talks between the US and Iran and judged that the offer made by Tehran on its nuclear programme was significant enough to prevent a rush to war, the Guardian can reveal. Powell thought progress had been made in Geneva in late February and that the deal proposed by Iran was “surprising”, according to sources…Powell’s attendance at the Geneva talks, as well as at a previous set of meetings earlier in the month in the Swiss city, helps in part to explain the UK government’s reluctance to back the US attack on Iran, a reluctance that has put the UK-US relationship under unprecedented strain. The UK saw no compelling evidence of an imminent threat of an Iranian missile attack on Europe, or of Iran securing a nuclear weapon. This is the first time it has become clear that Britain was so closely involved in the talks, and so had good reason to decide whether diplomatic options had been exhausted and a US attack was necessary.” See also U.K. Allows U.S. to Use Bases to Hit Iranian Forces Menacing Strait Traffic (NYT 3/20/26); Oman claims Israel pushed US into Iran war when deal was possible (The Guardian 3/19/26);
Trump Officials Bypass Congress to Sell Weapons to U.A.E., Kuwait and Jordan (NYT 3/20/26)
“The Trump administration has declared a wartime emergency to bypass Congress and push through more than $23 billion in weapons sales to allies in the Middle East, the second time since the start of the war with Iran that it has circumvented the normal congressional approval process.”
UN Report Calls 2025 Israeli Strike on Iran’s Evin Prison a War Crime (Haaretz 3/16/26)
‘”We found reasonable grounds to believe that, in carrying out the airstrikes on Evin prison, Israel committed the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against a civilian object…,” Sara Hossain, chair of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, told the UN Human Rights Council. She said 80 people, including one child and eight women, had been killed.”
GAZA
Gaza Aid Reduced by 80 Percent Since Start of Iran War as Food Prices Surge (Haaretz 3/19/26)
“According to figures held by the American-run Civil Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat, the number of trucks entering the Gaza Strip has fallen by 80 percent since the war against Iran began…Reports from the Gaza Strip indicate a sharp surge in food prices due to shortages…Hospitals in the Gaza Strip are also reporting shortages in medical supplies.” See also The Israeli-made Disaster in Gaza Is Far From Over – Let All Aid in Before Palestinians Starve (Haaretz 3/19/26);
Trump’s mediators offer Hamas formal proposal to give up its weapons in Gaza (NPR 3/19/26)
“Mediators have given Hamas a formal proposal to lay down its weapons, a senior U.S. official told NPR. The proposal calls for Hamas and all other militant groups in Gaza to hand over all weapons, making an emerging governing authority responsible for all the arms…Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative in Gaza for President Trump’s Board of Peace, said in a social media post the mediators in the conflict agreed to a framework that would lead to reconstruction of Gaza and “a negotiated resolution of the Palestinian question.” “It is now on the table. It requires one clear choice: full decommissioning by Hamas and every armed group, with no exceptions and no carve-outs,” the Bulgarian diplomat, who is a former U.N. Middle East envoy, wrote on X.”
Hamas sits out Iran war as Gaza, Gulf interests take priority (Al Monitor 3/14/26)
“Despite rushing to condemn what it described as Israeli “brutality and savagery” and “American support” for it, Hamas has so far chosen not to join the conflict, other than announcing its backing of the Islamic Republic. The situation in Gaza and internal factors have shaped Hamas’ calculus and informed its decisions on the war still raging in the Gulf. Hamas reiterated this position on Saturday, issuing a strongly worded statement calling on Iran to stop targeting neighboring countries.”
Sandstorm Batters Gaza, Slamming Makeshift Shelters (NYT 3/14/26)
“A sandstorm swept across Gaza on Saturday, slamming tents and other makeshift shelters with forceful gusts in an enclave where most of the population has been displaced by war… Millions of Palestinians have remained without proper housing, living in tents or damaged buildings, since a fragile cease-fire went into effect in October, two years after the deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel ignited the war. About 80 percent of the buildings in Gaza were damaged or destroyed during the war, according to the United Nations. By some estimates, two-thirds of Palestinians in Gaza are living in 1,000 displacement sites across the enclave, which are often overcrowded.”
RIVER TO THE SEA
Israeli police kill two young Palestinian boys and their parents in West Bank (The Guardian 3/15/26)
“Israeli police have killed two young Palestinian brothers and their parents in the occupied West Bank, shooting all four in the head and face as the family returned from a Ramadan shopping trip. Mohammed, five, Othman, seven, who was blind and had special needs, their mother, Waad Bani Odeh, 35, and father, Ali Bani Odeh, 37, were driving through their home town of Tamoun late on Saturday when Israeli forces opened fire. Israeli forces target Palestinians with near total impunity in the occupied West Bank, where the last attack that led to a homicide indictment was a 2019 shooting, according to legal data compiled by the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din…The Bani Odeh family were killed just hours after Israeli settlers shot and killed Amir Moatasem Odeh, 28, in Qusra south of Nablus. The attackers also stabbed his father, Moatasem Awda, who was taken to hospital in serious condition. There has been a surge of Israeli violence against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank since Israel and the US launched their war on Iran at the end of February. Over two weeks Israeli settlers have shot six civilians dead during invasions of Palestinian olive groves, villages and grazing land, and one man died after inhaling military-grade teargas used by the Israeli army.” See also Family Outing in West Bank Ends in Hail of Israeli Gunfire (NYT 3/15/26); With Chilling Composure, an 11-year-old Palestinian Boy Recounts His Family’s Final Moments (Haaretz 3/20/26);
‘I thought we were going to be raped’: A night of settler terror in the Jordan Valley (Oren Ziv//+972 Magazine 3/17/26)
“On the night of March 12, Israeli settlers raided the residential compound of the Abu Al-Kbash family in the Palestinian herding community of Khirbet Humsa in the northern Jordan Valley. They then forced residents and international protective presence activists into a tent, where they were tied up and abused for about an hour. Around 10 adults and seven children were held inside the tent, according to witnesses. The attackers beat them with clubs, poured cold water on them, threatened them, and sexually assaulted one of the residents. Four Palestinians and two international activists were later taken to hospital in the nearby city of Tubas. The attack comes amid escalating violence and displacement in the northern Jordan Valley, where Palestinian herding communities have faced mounting pressure from Israeli settlers and the military. In recent weeks alone, at least four communities in the area have been forced to leave their homes.” See also Palestinian Man Recounts Brutal Sexual Assault by Israeli Settlers (NYT 3/18/26); Israeli Settlers Sexually Assaulted Palestinian Man in Jordan Valley, Witnesses Say (Matan Golan//Haaretz 4/16/26)
How Israel Used the War in Gaza to Accelerate Settlements in the West Bank (Isaac Chotiner interviews Yehuda Shaul//New Yorker 3/14/26)
“Yehuda Shaul: “We see the massive acceleration of the policy of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank that goes beyond the forcible transfer of Palestinian communities to Israeli settlers. The goal in the West Bank is to create a homogenous ethnicity in a space that is being cleansed of Palestinians, and to expand the Israeli footprint there. That’s why I call it ethnic cleansing, and I don’t use this term lightly…We’re talking about more than sixty Palestinian herding-and-farming communities across the West Bank being forcibly displaced by settlers, according to Peace Now and Kerem Navot, because of settler violence in the past several years, mainly after October 7th…For me, the issue is very simple. This idea of squeezing a growing demographic of people into a shrinking territory with the belief that technological superiority will allow you permanent domination is the bubble that exploded on October 7th. If anyone wants to prevent another October 7th, if anyone wants to protect and defend the lives of Israelis and Palestinians, then you must give Palestinians freedom. The security of Jewish self-determination is interlinked and intertwined with achieving Palestinian self-determination. And what’s happening in the West Bank on a daily basis is eroding this possibility. So we are basically heading toward escalation and increasing conflict.” See also UN rights report condemns displacement of Palestinians in West Bank (AP 3/17/26)
Under Cover of War, Israel Speeds Up Seizures of Palestinian Land (Maya Rosen//Jewish Currents 3/19/26)
“Early this year, Israel’s High Court halted a military plan to build a wall that would slice through the northern Jordan Valley, cutting off a vast area of agricultural land, and the thousand Palestinians who live on it, from the rest of the West Bank. Since the start of the new Iran war, the plan is back on. The wall, which the military refers to as the “Crimson Thread,” is part of a larger project aiming to build a 300-mile barrier from the very north of the country in the Golan Heights to the very south by the Red Sea, which would redraw the map of the West Bank with devastating consequences…Under the cover of war, and as missiles fall on Palestinian communities granted no protection, violence has exploded in the northern Jordan Valley, and across the West Bank. “The war with Iran has created distraction and an opportunity for increased settler violence and pressure on Palestinian communities to unfold with less international scrutiny,” said Belal Bani Odeh, a resident of the town of Tammun in the northern Jordan Valley, and a relative of a family murdered near the village by undercover Israeli soldiers on March 15th. According to the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din, there were 170 distinct incidents of settler violence in 85 different Palestinian communities during the first 17 days of the war.” See also Jewish-American woman deported from Israel after witnessing child struck by car in West Bank (JTA 3/16/26);
Under Cover of War, Israel’s Right Pushes to Expand Borders – and Settle Lebanon (Haaretz 3/19/26)
Amid war with Iran, what was once considered a far-fetched initiative has turned into a systematic campaign supported by lawmakers and the right-wing press: expansion of Israel’s northern border as far as the Litani River.”
Exposed from above, silenced from within: Palestinians in wartime Israel (Samah Watad and Baker Zoubi//+972 Magazine 3/19/26)
“Shelters and protected spaces have become a central component of Israel’s civil defense system, especially since October 7 and the subsequent escalations with Iran, which have extended the threat of missile fire to nearly every part of the country. However, in Arab communities — and even in Arab neighborhoods within binational cities — significant gaps remain between the protections provided to Jewish and Palestinian citizens. A new study by two local organizations, Sikkuy–Aufoq and Injaz, reflects the scale of the disparity: Out of 11,775 public shelters nationwide, only 37 are located in Arab localities — roughly 0.3 percent — and eight of those are unusable…This means that hundreds of thousands of Arab citizens (who comprise around 20 percent of Israel’s population) live in communities without public shelters and instead are forced to take cover in interior rooms, hallways, or stairwells — spaces that offer little protection from direct hits or even falling shrapnel. This vulnerability is not only a wartime failure, but the result of decades of discriminatory planning, chronic underinvestment, and policy decisions that have left Arab towns largely outside the state’s protection infrastructure…In this sense, the issue is not simply the shortage of shelters. It is that safety itself has been shaped by systems from which Palestinian citizens were long excluded: land allocation, permitting, and market-driven development.” See also Jewish Calls for Genocide Go Unpunished in Israel. Arab Citizens, Meanwhile, Are Arrested for Talking About Iran (Hadeel Abu Salih//Haaretz 3/19/26)
Wartime closures at Jerusalem holy sites raise fears of lasting shift among Palestinians (Daoud Kuttab//Al Monitor 3/20/26)
“As Ramadan drew to a close and Muslims begin marking Eid al-Fitr, the near-total closure of Jerusalem’s Old City and its holy sites has triggered growing concern among Palestinians — not only over immediate restrictions but over what they see as a deeper shift in control over access to worship. While many religious leaders say they understand the security risks posed by the current US and Israeli conflict with Iran, and the threat of missile attacks, they warn that the sweeping shutdown of sites like Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre risks setting a lasting precedent.” See also ‘The saddest day for Muslim worshippers in Jerusalem’: al-Aqsa mosque closed at Eid (The Guardian 3/20/26); Cops forcefully clear Eid prayers outside Jerusalem’s Old City amid Iran war closure (TOI 3/20/26);
U.S. SCENE
Trump Administration Sues Harvard Over Accusations of Antisemitism (NYT 3/20/26)
“The Trump administration sued Harvard University on Friday over claims that the school was violating the civil rights of Jewish and Israeli people, an escalation of the government’s yearlong clash with the Ivy League university. The administration has spent months investigating Harvard and trying to force a settlement on the university, the largest target in the White House’s campaign to remake American higher education. But the lawsuit Friday — more than six months after a judge blocked the administration’s opening push to strip Harvard of federal research funding — represented a new threat to the nation’s wealthiest university.” See also Dueling letters from Jewish groups dispute prevalence of antisemitism at UCLA (The Forward 3/17/26); UC Jewish community paints disparate pictures of campus antisemitism (LA Times 3/17/26);
Efforts to shut down pro-Palestinian speech face series of setbacks in court (The Guardian 3/19/26)
“Pro-Israel groups have filed hundreds of lawsuits or legal actions in an effort to silence some of this speech, with the vast majority filed since 2023 in response to the protest movement surrounding Israel’s recent war in Gaza. The most important rulings to have come out of these cases, experts say, have found that speech and slogans at the heart of the controversies are protected by the first amendment. A number of the rulings also state that the speech at issue is not antisemitic and does not violate the civil rights of Jewish students. Together, those decisions are delivering a blow to pro-Israel groups’ legal campaign to shut down protests and criticism of Israel through the courts. “The courts have said, ‘We agree, this is first amendment protected speech,” said Radhika Sainath, an attorney with Palestine Legal, which filed briefs in many of the cases. That, she continued, has resulted in “wins for Palestinian rights because they are starting to create a body of law”…Along with first amendment experts from the American Civil Liberties Union, New York Civil Liberties Union, Palestine Legal and a former US attorney, the Guardian reviewed key rulings issued through the end of 2025 that the experts said are shaping legal precedent.” See also In antisemitism settlement, UC Berkeley agrees bans on Zionists ‘can violate university rules’ (JTA 3/20/26)
Democratic voter support for Israel plummets to historic low (The Forward 3/16/26)
“Support for Israel among Democratic voters has plummeted by more than half over the past three years, with only 13% of Democrats now expressing a positive view of Israel while 57% hold a negative view, according to a new NBC News poll. The numbers mark a stunning shift since the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack against Israel, when Democrats were evenly split in their outlook toward Israel: one-third had a favorable view, one-third had a negative view and one-third were neutral. They reflect a broader softening of support for Israel among all voters, including Republicans, though the most dramatic movement has taken place among Democrats, independents and younger Americans…Overall, the NBC poll found that American voters overall are about evenly split in sympathy for Israelis and Palestinians — 40% to 39%. But that marks a dramatic shift compared to 2013, when only 13% of voters sympathized with the Palestinians.” See also Jewish progressive prevails in closely watched Illinois primary, blasting AIPAC in victory speech (JTA 3/18/26); Illinois Results: Daniel Biss Beats Kat Abughazaleh in Blow to Left and AIPAC Alike (The Intercept 3/17/26); AIPAC spends $20M in Illinois, boosting Israel’s critics and spending against a Jewish leader (JTA 3/16/26);
Trump ramps up press pressure over Iran war coverage (Axios 3/17/26)
“The Trump administration is ramping up its attacks on the press as it struggles to control its messaging about the war in Iran. The big picture: History suggests that when press freedoms are targeted during times of war, they’re rarely reinstated. The big picture: Over the past few weeks, the administration has threatened news outlets with regulatory retaliation and blocked access over their coverage of the war with Iran. FCC chair Brendan Carr on Saturday threatened to revoke broadcast licenses if war coverage did not “operate in the public interest.” His comments came shortly after the president criticized the press on Truth Social for its coverage, alleging the media “actually want us to lose the War.”’ See also The Pentagon wants an extra $200 billion for the Iran war and beyond (NPR 3/19/26); See also FBI and IRS to investigate nonprofit groups for domestic terrorism links, sources say (CBS News 3/18/26)
Joe Kent, a Top U.S. Counterterrorism Official, Resigns Over the Iran War (NYT 3/17/26)
“One of the United States’ top counterterrorism officials resigned on Tuesday, citing his opposition to the war in Iran and what he said was Israel’s influence over the Trump administration’s policies, a sign of emerging divisions in the Republican coalition. The official, Joe Kent, is the first senior member of the administration to quit over the war…“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Mr. Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, wrote in a letter to Mr. Trump. “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”’ See also Joe Kent, now under investigation, insinuates to Tucker Carlson that Israel might have killed Charlie Kirk to stoke Iran war (JTA 3/19/26)
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
These aren’t AI firms, they’re defense contractors. We can’t let them hide behind their models (Avner Gvaryahu//The Guardian 3/15/26)
“Gaza was the laboratory. Minab is the market. The result is a world in which the most consequential targeting decisions in modern warfare are made by systems that cannot explain themselves, supplied by companies that answer to no one, in conflicts that generate no accountability and no reckoning. That is not a failure of the system. That is the system….When reported verification times for AI-assisted targets are measured in seconds, we are no longer talking about human judgment with algorithmic assistance. We are talking about rubber-stamping a machine’s output. And when that machine’s data is a decade out of date, the consequences are written in rows of small coffins.”
Longing for My Tehran (Orly Noy//NYRB 3/14/26)
“Watching Israeli news channels has become unbearable. Support for the war is wall-to-wall; I have not seen a single journalist ask why this latest attack was necessary when only nine months ago, at the end of the last war with Iran, Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel had achieved a “historic victory that will stand for generations.” The Zionist opposition parties have also lined up in favor: their leader in the Knesset, Yair Lapid, tweeted that for now “there is no coalition and opposition—there is only one people and one IDF, and we all stand behind it.” Yair Golan, the head of the Democrats party and supposedly the leftmost figure on the Zionist political spectrum, also expressed his support: “The IDF and the security forces are operating with strength and professionalism; they have our full backing.” The police, which have been operating in the spirit of Itamar Ben-Gvir since the Kahanist minister assumed control of the Ministry of National Security, have violently dispersed the few small antiwar demonstrations that have taken place…Throughout my many years as a political activist, I have grown accustomed to feeling anger at Israeli society. But now it does not anger me—it frightens me.”
This Magazine Is Unapologetically Palestinian – and Entirely in Hebrew (Haaretz 3/17/26)
“Sabra magazine could easily confuse anyone. The Hebrew-language online publication takes its name from a word that most Jews immediately associate with Zionism and being born and raised as Israeli, yet the magazine’s writers and subject matter are almost entirely Palestinian…The magazine is clear about its mission on its homepage: “Sabra is an independent, nonprofit and non-partisan Palestinian magazine, committed to the values of human rights and to the professional and ethical standards of journalism. The magazine is also committed to the rights of the Palestinian people, to ending the occupation, to full equality for Palestinian citizens, and to the right of return.”…Journalist and activist Mariam Farah is the site’s editor-in-chief…”We felt there was a need to speak directly with Israeli society. Let’s tell our own story in Hebrew. So that people will understand us without assumptions, even in the language itself. Simply the truth. Not some translation of the truth, and not someone explaining the truth. This is our truth, and we are the ones telling it.”’
Joe Kent’s Resignation Letter Is Dangerous Because It’s Half True (Michelle Goldberg//NYT 3/18/26)
“Given Israel’s deep involvement in almost every aspect of this war, it takes care and subtlety — both in short supply in our politics — to tease out the difference between reality and conspiracy theory. A major distortion in Kent’s letter is that it presents Trump as a naïve victim of the Israelis rather than an eager collaborator…Still, Israel clearly encouraged him and now threatens to prolong the war, since unlike Trump, it seems determined to destroy the Iranian state.”