NEW FROM FMEP
Iran War – A regional tour d’horizon (New Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Middle East policy journalist, analyst, and author Omar Rahman about the Iran War and its impacts in the region. Their conversation explores: Iran-U.S. diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire, and challenges to ending this war; the Trump Administration’s blockade of Iran’s blockade of the Straits of Hormuz; the impact of the Iran War on the policies/interests/unity of Gulf states; Israel’s war on Lebanon and its impacts for the region; and the rapidly expanding/shifting Overton window with respect to support for Israel in the U.S.
The Iran Blockade and Israel’s War Logic (New Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor holds a quick conversation with FMEP President Lara Friedman in which they discuss the U.S.’s “blockade of a blockade” in the Strait of Hormuz and the lack of thinking that seems to characterize it; the Israeli effort to undo Oslo, undo the Gaza “disengagement”, and undo the withdrawal from Lebanon; and the question of whether Israel considers Turkey to be a peer competitor.
FMEP Legislative Round-Up April 17, 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: April 17, 2026 (Kristin McCarthy)
- WEST BANK: 34 New Settlements; 2. EAST JERUSALEM: Demolitions and Evictions in Silwan, Eviction in Old City, First Jerusalem Outpost; 3. STATE-BACKED SETTLER TERRORISM; 4. BONUS READS
GLOBAL/REGION
Trump announces 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon after ‘excellent conversations’ (The Guardian 4/16/26)
“Donald Trump has announced a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon to be followed by a meeting between Israeli and Lebanese leaders next week, in a deal that it is hoped will bring progress toward a parallel peace agreement between the US and Iran…Netanyahu said the ceasefire offered an opportunity for a “historic peace agreement”, but insisted that the disarmament of Hezbollah remained a precondition. “We have an opportunity to make a historic peace agreement with Lebanon,” Netanyahu said in a televised speech, adding that Israel would maintain a 10km (6.2-mile) “security zone” along the border in southern Lebanon…The terms of the ceasefire, as provided by the US state department, prohibit Israel from offensive military actions in Lebanon. But they appear to leave more room for “self-defense,” including “against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks”.’ See also Netanyahu: Long ‘road to peace’ begins, as Trump says Israel ‘PROHIBITED’ from bombing Lebanon (TOI 4/17/26); Trump announces Lebanon-Israel ceasefire, will invite Aoun and Netanyahu to White House (Al Monitor 4/16/26); Leaked Documents Reveal Details of the Secret Saudi Arabia–Pakistan Mutual Defense Pact (Drop Site 4/13/26); How Pakistan’s army chief became an unlikely peacemaker in the Iran war (The Guardian 4/17/26); Iran says strait of Hormuz ‘completely open’ to commercial vessels as oil prices fall (The Guardian 4/17/26); Rubio Hosts Israel and Lebanon for Rare Meeting Shadowed by U.S.-Iran War (NYT 4/14/26);
Trump Says He ‘Prohibited’ Israel From Bombing Lebanon; Netanyahu: Hezbollah a Threat (Haaretz 4/17/26)
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that, due to a request from U.S. President Donald Trump, Israel would give a chance to “a political and military solution in coordination with the Lebanese government.” He admitted that the Hezbollah threat to Israel’s north remains, “I say honestly: We haven’t finished the job yet.” He noted that Hezbollah’s capabilities to launch rockets and drones still exist. “There are things we plan to do against the remaining rocket threat and against the drone threat. We also have another goal, which is the dismantling of Hezbollah. This will not be achieved tomorrow,” Netanyahu clarified. Later on Friday, Trump announced that the United States will not allow the continuation of bombings in Lebanon. “Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer. They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the U.S.A. Enough is enough!!!” the U.S. president wrote on his social media network, Truth Social…Only minutes after Trump’s post, an Israeli drone strike killed one person in southern Lebanon, the first full day of the U.S.-brokered truce, paramedics in the area and the head of a local hospital told Reuters.” See also Forced into a corner by the U.S., Netanyahu agrees to a cease-fire in Lebanon (NYT 4/16/26); Netanyahu Says War With Iran Is ‘Not Yet Over’ (NYT 4/12/26)
‘Everything is gone’: Israel destroys entire villages in Lebanon (The Guardian 4/12/26)
“The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations…The demolitions came after Israel’s minister of defence, Israel Katz, called for the destruction of “all houses” in border villages “in accordance with the model used in Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza” to stop threats to communities in northern Israel. The Israeli military destroyed 90% of homes in Rafah, in south Gaza. The tactic of mass destruction of homes in Gaza, where Israel has been accused of committing genocide, was described as domicide by academics, a strategy that is used to systematically destroy and damage civilian housing to render entire areas uninhabitable. The Israeli military has said they are targeting Hezbollah infrastructure such as tunnels and military facilities, which it claims the armed group has embedded in civilian homes, through these demolitions. Israel has said that it will occupy vast swathes of south Lebanon, establishing a “security zone” in the entire area up to the Litani River, and that displaced people would not be allowed to return to their homes until the safety of Israel’s northern cities is guaranteed, prompting concern there will be long-term displacement. Rights groups, however, have said these mass remote detonations could amount to wanton destruction: a war crime. The laws of war prohibit the deliberate destruction of civilian homes, except when necessary for lawful military reasons.” See also Israel escalates attacks on medics in Lebanon with deadly ‘quadruple tap’ (The Guardian 4/16/26); Tens of thousands return to south Lebanon after ceasefire, defying Israeli warnings (Middle East Eye 4/17/26); I Just Want to Be Back’: Thousands Rush South in Lebanon Under Cease-Fire (NYT 4/17/26); Israeli strike severs last bridge linking southern Lebanon to rest of country, Lebanese security official says (Reuters 4/16/26); ‘
Israel’s “Black Wednesday” Massacre Leaves Lebanese Families Giving DNA to ID Loved Ones’ Remains (Alaa Serhal//The Intercept 4/17/26)
“Last week, after Iran and the U.S. agreed to a ceasefire, Israel pressed on in its Lebanese front with a ferocious blitz of airstrikes. The toll was staggering, leaving demolished buildings and infrastructure, along with the attendant skyrocketing casualties — the violence rending people into unrecognizable forms…After the Iran–U.S. truce, Israel launched more than 100 strikes on Lebanon in just 10 minutes, with the Israeli government taking to social media to brag about its assault. The latest round of hostilities between with Israel had already brought weeks of ravages to Lebanon, but last week’s onslaught, dubbed “Black Wednesday” by the Lebanese, razed densely populated neighborhoods in the capital. At least 357 were killed and more than 1,000 were injured, according to the health ministry. A week later, dozens of people are still missing.”
Once a Fringe Idea, Support for Settlement of Lebanon Goes Mainstream in Israel (Maya Rosen//Jewish Currents 4/14/26)
Uri Tzafon [the far-right movement pushing for Jewish settlement of southern Lebanon]’s vision of establishing Israeli settlements in Lebanon has advanced significantly over the last six weeks. What was considered a fringe curiosity in 2024 is transforming into the new Israeli conventional wisdom—backed by an organized movement with broad support from politicians and the media. Even as negotiations could force Israel to halt its bombardment of Lebanon, the next time Israel attacks, Uri Tzafon will be one step closer to building civilian settlements atop the ruins of Lebanese villages. Uri Tzafon’s informal, oft-repeated motto is “occupation, expulsion, settlement.” It has advanced the idea that Israel must move its northern border to the Litani River—which bisects Lebanon about 15 miles north of the current Israeli boundary—and occupy a depopulated southern Lebanon, comprising some 10% of Lebanon’s total territory…These aspirations are being translated into policy: On March 24th, Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that the military would control southern Lebanon up to the Litani, and prevent the return of hundreds of thousands of residents. A week later, he said that all homes near the border would be destroyed, “like in Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” in order “to permanently remove border-adjacent threats.” Israel has now issued evacuation orders for about 15% of Lebanon’s territory, part of its campaign to ethnically cleanse the southern part of the country, specifically of Shiite Muslims. (Hezbollah is a Shiite organization.)…Over a million people have already been displaced from southern Lebanon, and over 2,000 people have been killed, with nearly 6,000 injured.” See also “I Want to Occupy”: Inside the Israeli Movement Pushing to Raze and Settle Southern Lebanon (Theia Chatelle//The Intercept 4/11/26)
Meloni suspends Italy’s military cooperation agreement with Israel (Al Monitor 4/14/26)
“Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday that her government has decided to halt the automatic renewal of its defense agreement with Israel “in light of the current situation,” likely meaning that the agreement will not be renewed…The announcement is more political than practical. Italy halted military cooperation with Israel after the 2023 Hamas attack and ensuing Gaza war, which many European countries hold in violation of international law. Italy no longer sells weapons to Israel, does not purchase weapons from Israel and does not conduct joint military training or drills with the Israeli military…Like Spain and France, Italy has denied American planes carrying military equipment permission to pass through its airspace.” See also With Orban’s defeat in Hungary, Israel loses European shield (Al Monitor 4/13/26); Israeli ambassador meets with France’s Marine Le Pen, extending outreach to Europe’s far-right (JTA 4/16/26);
Prominent Palestinian human rights advocate barred from entering France (Le Monde 4/16/26)
“Shawan Jabarin, the general director of Al-Haq, a West Bank-based NGO that is currently under US sanctions, was scheduled to speak before the European Parliament’s human rights committee in Strasbourg this past Tuesday. However, French authorities denied his visa application.”
GAZA
Gaza ‘heading towards famine’ as bread shortages deepen amid Israeli curbs (Middle East Eye 4/13/26)
“Significant shortages of bread and essential supplies, including food and fuel, have returned to the Gaza Strip as Israel continues to tighten restrictions on the entry of goods and aid. In recent days, Palestinians in the enclave have been forced to queue for hours to obtain subsidised bundles of bread from the few bakeries still operating, each costing three shekels (around $1). Free bread distributed by aid groups remains scarce and out of reach for many. Residents also report rising vegetable prices, while eggs, chicken and meat have nearly disappeared from the market.”
“My Daughter Went Out to Learn, Not to Fight”: Gaza Grieves More Children Killed by Israel (Drop Site 4/16/26)
“Seven more Palestinians were killed in separate Israeli attacks on Gaza on Tuesday alone, including five killed in an airstrike near Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, one killed by Israeli fire in Beit Lahia, and another child—14-year-old Adam Ahmed Halaa—killed in an Israeli attack near the Jabaliya refugee camp. Since Israel signed a “ceasefire” deal with Hamas in October, it has violated the agreement on a routine basis, killing Palestinians in near daily attacks; preventing sufficient amounts of food, medicine, building materials, and other life essentials from entering the territory; and restricting the number of Palestinians allowed to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing for medical evacuations or to return from abroad. As part of the agreement, Israeli ground troops withdrew to what is known as the “yellow line” but have continued to encroach further west, sometimes by hundreds of meters in Gaza’s narrow territory, and currently occupy close to 60% of the Strip.” See also Israeli fire kills 11 in Gaza, including two children, medics say (Reuters 4/14/26); Israeli Strikes Kill Average of 47 Women and Girls Daily During Gaza War, UN Says (Haaretz 4/17/26); Israeli Fire Kills Eight in Gaza, Wounds 29, in Past 24 Hours, Medics Say (Haaretz 4/15/26);
US and Hamas hold first direct talks since Gaza truce as ceasefire process stalls (CNN 4/15/26)
“The US and Hamas held their first direct talks since the Gaza ceasefire as part of efforts to advance the fragile US-brokered agreement, two Hamas sources said. A delegation led by senior US advisor Aryeh Lightstone met chief Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya in Cairo on Tuesday night, according to the sources. Lightstone was joined by Nickolay Mladenov, the US-backed Board of Peace’s High Representative for Gaza, officials said…Al-Hayya, who survived an Israeli assassination attempt in the Qatari capital Doha last September, pressed Lightstone about the need for Israel to fully implement its commitments to the first phase of the agreement — including an end to strikes and the entry of more humanitarian aid — in order to move to the next phase, the sources said…Meetings between Hamas, representatives of the Board of Peace and international mediators have aimed to reach an agreement over the next phase of the ceasefire deal: the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of an international force to Gaza, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the devastated territory. But multiple sources said those talks repeatedly stalled over demands that Hamas agree to disarm before Israel has fulfilled its phase one commitments.”
Second Contractor Steps Forward to Blow the Whistle on Israeli Attacks at Gaza Aid Site (Drop Site 4/13/26)
“Between May and October 2025, over 2,600 Palestinians were killed and more than 19,000 wounded at or near the distribution sites and UN convoys, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israeli soldiers were accused in the majority of the shootings, though security contractors also fired on Palestinians at the aid sites, according to the Associated Press, CBS News and other outlets. The Israeli military has long denied that the attacks on Palestinian aid seekers were the result of deliberate targeting. In statement after statement, the Israeli military has denied killing aid seekers, claiming instead they fired “warning shots” in their attempts at crowd control. GHF has likewise claimed the killings happened outside their aid sites. Accounts by Palestinian eyewitnesses have long contradicted these claims. Only one security contractor apart from [David] McIntosh [interviewed for this article] has spoken out on the record previously—Anthony Aguilar, a retired Special Forces officer who worked as a security contractor with UG Solutions. Aguilar said he witnessed security contractors firing on crowds…When he arrived in Gaza, McIntosh said he saw Israeli soldiers regularly and indiscriminately fire on unarmed Palestinians seeking aid, use stray dogs for target practice, and fire dangerously close to or directly at the GHF contractors themselves.”
RIVER TO THE SEA
Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti facing ‘escalating abuse’ in Israeli jails (The Guardian 4/15/26)
“The jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti is at immediate risk in Israeli jails, where he has been attacked three times in as many weeks, including in one assault last month where prison guards set a dog on the 66-year-old, his lawyer has said…His lawyer, Ben Marmarelli, said in a statement after a prison visit where Barghouti provided details of the most recent attacks that the Palestinian leader faced a “clear pattern of escalating abuse: violence, medical neglect, and treatment that places him at immediate risk” in jail.”
Israeli Settler Violence: A Strategy to Displace Palestinians from their Land (Yara Asi//Arab Center DC 4/10/26)
“On April 9, 2026, news broke that the Israeli government had recently authorized the construction of 34 new settlements in the West Bank—nearly six times the number approved in the thirty years following the 1993 Oslo Accords. The announcement comes after a month in which Palestinians in the West Bank experienced some of the most dangerous conditions in recent memory…The impunity afforded to perpetrators by the Israeli government is no accident. The attacks are not merely isolated acts of violence by rogue civilians, but deliberate tactics to terrorize and displace Palestinians as part of a wider strategy of land seizure enabled by the State of Israel itself. Since October 7, 2023, an estimated 59 Palestinian communities in the West Bank have been displaced as a result of settler violence and harassment. Frequently, settler outposts are erected in their place…It is no coincidence that genocide, mass displacement, settler violence, and land seizures are occurring at the same time. For decades, Israeli leaders across the political spectrum have supported policies to force Palestinians out of historic Palestine, creating a new reality on the ground and erasing not just Palestinian ties to the land but also perhaps even the very idea of Palestinians.”
Brief, arbitrary abductions: A new tool of Israeli intimidation in Masafer Yatta (Basel Adra//+972 Magazine 4/15/26)
‘“A particularly disturbing trend has intensified in recent months: soldiers simply taking Palestinians in what some would term abductions, which clearly constitute unlawful detentions,” The Human Rights Defenders Fund, a legal aid group, noted in a statement. These arrests occur “without any involvement of law enforcement agencies, bypassing the legal procedures that normally require an arrest or detention to be reported to the police and the detainee brought to a police station,” the statement continued. “By taking Palestinians in this manner, soldiers and settlers can harass or abuse Palestinians without oversight.” In the Rujum ‘Ulya area of Masafer Yatta, some 35 people have been arrested in this fashion over the past two months. The vast majority were detained by settlers wearing military-style uniforms, taken to nearby army bases rather than police stations, and held for hours — where they endured beatings and humiliation — before being released far from their homes.”
70 Palestinians in a Garbage Truck: The Outcome of Israel’s Factory of Desperation (Haaretz 4/16/26)
“On Monday night, Israeli police opened the back of a garbage truck at a West Bank checkpoint and found around 70 Palestinian men packed inside its waste compartment. Bodies pressed against metal, men unfolding one by one, hands raised as a voice cuts through in Arabic: “Eskot.” Be silent. The official framing by Israeli authorities followed quickly. The men were described as “illegal entrants,” attempting to “infiltrate central Israel.” They were taken for questioning. The driver, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, was arrested for driving without a proper license. What would it take for you to climb into that truck? To step into a space meant for waste, to stand there without air or certainty, knowing that if you are caught, you could be arrested, beaten, or worse? For these men, the motivation may have been a week without income. No permit to work in Israel. Rent due. Children waiting. No alternative…Since October 7, 2023 Israel has revoked tens of thousands of Palestinian work permits.”
Barbed Wire and Tear Gas: Back to School in Umm al-Khair (Maya Rosen//Jewish Currents 4/14/26)
“Monday was the first day schools reopened in the southern West Bank since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran six weeks ago. When children from the village of Umm al-Khair set out for the school just outside their village at around 7:30 am on Monday morning, they found the path blocked by barbed wire, which settlers had laid on Sunday night. As adults from the village called Israeli police for assistance clearing the path, the children, a group of around 20 between the ages of five and 14, sat down in the field and opened their schoolbooks. Israeli troops, summoned by settlers from an adjacent settlement, soon arrived and shot tear gas toward the group of children. Video of the incident reviewed by Jewish Currents shows children running and screaming from a cloud of gas. Later, Red Crescent responders arrived and gave the children an impromptu lesson on treating the effects of tear gas and stun grenades.” See also Israeli forces fire teargas at schoolchildren holding West Bank sit-in (The Guardian 4/13/26)
After Expelling 120 Families, Israeli Settlers Turn Stream Into Holiday Attraction (Haaretz 4/12/26)
“Chocolate-covered matza, children’s cheers, head coverings and kippot, and wet sandals filled the reserve north of the deserted Ras Ein al-Auja community throughout the Passover holiday. Visitors slid down the Auja water slide, where the words “We have returned to the water cisterns” were painted in blue. Above it flew a flag reading “And let them make Me a sanctuary,” while armed soldiers stood guard nearby. Not far away lay the desolate remains of homes once inhabited by about 120 families, who fled last January after repeated settler harassment drove them out. Hundreds of vehicles lined the road. From one of them, a woman in a long dress stepped out, eager to enter what has become a major attraction in settler tourism. Many of the men were armed, and their excitement was palpable…The operators of the “Hilltop News” WhatsApp group also celebrated what they described as “the return to the water cisterns.””All this was made possible thanks to a few Jews who, with great devotion, expelled the Arab invaders from there…,” they wrote…” See also Rabbi Honored by Israel Lives in Illegal West Bank Home on Private Palestinian Land (Haaretz 4/17/26);
The Extremes of Israeli Public Opinion (Isaac Chotiner interviews Dahlia Scheindlin//New Yorker 4/15/26)
“To better understand the state of public opinion in Israel, I recently spoke by phone with Dahlia Scheindlin. A polling expert, Scheindlin is a policy fellow at the Century Foundation, a columnist for Haaretz, and the author of “The Crooked Timber of Democracy in Israel.” During our conversation, which was edited for length and clarity, we discussed why Jewish Israelis are opposed to a ceasefire despite thinking the war is not going well, the complicated political calculations facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and why so much of the Israeli public thinks military force is the only way to solve international problems.” See also Why the ceasefire in Lebanon won’t stop Israel’s expansionist ambitions (Dimi Reider//+972 Magazine 4/16/26); For Israel, War Is the Only Answer (Mairav Zonszein//NYT 4/13/26)
Israel says Thunberg more influential ‘antisemite’ than Fuentes (Responsible Statecraft 4/15/26)
“Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is the world’s second most dangerous antisemite, several spots ahead of white nationalist Nick Fuentes, according to a new report from the Israeli government. The report contains an analysis of 10 “prominent influencers in the global anti-semitic and anti-Zionist arena in 2025, who were selected based on both the severity of their actions/statements and the scope of their influence.” While outside organizations have created similar rankings of antisemitic influencers, this appears to be the first one published by the Israeli government. As evidence of Thunberg’s antisemitism, the Israeli government pointed to her use of “terms such as ‘genocide,’ ‘siege’ and ‘mass starvation’ in reference to Israel’s actions in Gaza…In a separate section about American influencers, the Israeli government report also singles out Ms. Rachel, a YouTuber with nearly 20 million subscribers who makes educational videos for toddlers, as one of the most influential supposed antisemites. Ms. Rachel’s misdeeds include publishing “content dealing with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, highlighting alleged harm to civilians and children, and condemning Israeli military actions.” The report also says Ms. Rachel has “promoted fundraising campaigns for emergency aid for children in Gaza and other conflict zones.”’
U.S. SCENE
The Dam Breaks: Democratic Senators Overwhelmingly Reject Arms Sales to Israel (Matt Sledge//The Intercept 4/15/26)
“Democratic senators overwhelmingly voted to block bomb and bulldozer sales to Israel on Wednesday, in a reflection of the Jewish state’s plummeting stock among party rank-and-file and growing anger over the war with Iran. The Democratic votes on the pair of resolutions from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., were not enough to overcome universal opposition from Republicans. Still, the votes represented a watershed moment in the party’s relationship with Israel and the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel had continued to enjoy strong support from Democratic leaders, despite outrage from the base over the war on Gaza. Sanders said the votes signaled that party leaders are finally taking note…Some of the most notable names to vote in favor of blocking military transfers to Israel on Wednesday are potential 2028 presidential contenders. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego were among the Democrats to vote for both the resolutions.” See also Democratic Senators Face Pressure on Israel Arms Sales Vote (Josh Nathan-Kazis//Jewish Currents 4/14/26); In major shift, all but 7 Senate Democrats vote to block weapons sales to Israel (JTA 4/16/26);
No more US military aid to Israel (Bernie Sanders//The Guardian 4/15/26)
“But for Netanyahu, Gaza was not enough. Iran was not enough. He is now waging a full-blown war of expansion against Lebanon. That war has not only killed more than 2,000 people, but has resulted in Israel occupying 14% of Lebanese territory. The Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, has announced that all Lebanese border villages will be demolished – his exact words – following the “model in Gaza”. Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, has warned that Dahiyeh, a suburb of south Beirut, “will look like Khan Younis” – a city in Gaza that Israel reduced to rubble. These are not threats. They are promises. Given the horrific and illegal behavior of the Netanyahu government over the last three years, the American people have had enough…That is why this Wednesday, I will be forcing the Senate to vote on two Joint Resolutions of Disapproval – the only formal mechanism Congress has to block an arms sale. The first would block the sale of $151.8m in 1,000-pound bombs. The second would block $295m in bulldozers – the machines used to demolish homes in the West Bank and Gaza and make a Palestinian state physically impossible. These are not defensive weapons. They are the instruments of ethnic cleansing. The time is long overdue for members of Congress to listen to the American people and end US military aid to the extremist Netanyahu government.” See also About 90 People Detained at N.Y.C. Protest Over Arms Sales to Israel (NYT 4/13/26); Let’s Finally Do Something About the Bulldozer That Killed My Daughter (Cindy Corrie//The Nation 4/15/26)
In Democratic Primaries, Leading Candidates Oppose Selling Iron Dome Interceptors to Israel (Alex Kane//Jewish Currents 4/17/26)
“For progressive Democrats, the de facto position on US military ties to Israel in recent years has been to oppose US military aid, except in the case of notionally defensive missile interceptor systems like Iron Dome. This spring, that’s started to break down: One of the two leading contenders in the Senate Democratic primary in Michigan, the physician Abdul El-Sayed, says that he opposes not just military aid, but all US arms sales to Israel, including Iron Dome. He’s one of a large crop of left-wing candidates who are serious contenders in ongoing Democratic primaries and are pushing for the US to stop selling any weapons to Israel. The US government sells weapons to Israel, and other allies, that it procures from US weapons manufacturers. Today, Israel pays for much of that weaponry with the billions in military aid it receives from US taxpayers. Opposition to using US aid to pay for notionally defensive weapons like Iron Dome has been fringe in the Democratic Party. But Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez publicly adopted that position two weeks ago, sending a jolt through progressive politics and reorienting the broader US foreign policy debate around Israel. Now, progressives are increasingly saying they oppose US military aid, but want to allow Israel to continue to buy defensive weapons like Iron Dome from the US government with its own money. Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar have long gone a step further, pushing to end not just US military aid to Israel, but all US arms sales to the Israeli military. But their lonely position may soon have more backing in Congress.” See also J Street says Israel should fund its own defense (The Forward 4/14/26); ‘No More Exceptions’: J Street Backs Phasing Out All U.S. Aid to Israel by 2028 (Haaretz 4/13/26) Most American Jews oppose AIPAC spending in Democratic primaries, survey finds (JTA 4/14/26); After AIPAC-backed primary loss, Tom Malinowski endorses rival who says Israel committed genocide (The Forward 8/11/26); In Further Blow to AIPAC, Democrat Who Accused Israel of Genocide Wins NJ Special Election (Haaretz 4/17/26); I’m a Jewish candidate for New York comptroller. Our state must divest from Israel bonds (The Forward 4/10/26); Brad Lander joins call to end U.S. aid to Israel, in quest to replace Rep. Dan Goldman (The Forward 4/10/26);
Judges Fired After Blocking Deportations of Pro-Palestinian Students (NYT 4/11/26)
“The Trump administration has fired two immigration judges who dismissed high-profile deportation cases against international students who had advocated for Palestinians. The firings of the judges, Roopal Patel and Nina Froes, marked the latest efforts by the Trump administration to reshape the country’s immigration courts. The administration has dismissed dozens of immigration judges and, according to those on the bench, has put judges under pressure to deny asylum claims and order deportations. Unlike federal judges in the independent judicial branch, immigration judges work for the Justice Department and are hired and fired by the attorney general. The two judges, who were terminated alongside four colleagues on Friday, oversaw two high-profile cases filed by the government against the students, Rumeysa Ozturk and Mohsen Mahdawi.” See also ‘You’re bombing children’: JD Vance heckled over Gaza, Iran at Turning Point event (TOI 4/17/26)
How Civil Rights Victories of the Past Turned Into Weapons of the Present (Ziad Abu-Rish//Inside Higher Ed 4/15/26)
“The use of civil rights law to suppress campus speech critical of Israel is the result of a 20-plus-year campaign to reinterpret Title VI.”
Inside the Radical Zionist Group Linked to an N.Y.C. Assassination Plot (NYT 4/14/26)
“When law enforcement officials disrupted a plot to assassinate a Palestinian activist in New York last month, they said the man behind it belonged to a little-known group, a modern-day offshoot of the once-notorious extremist organization, the Jewish Defense League. The attack was averted because the man, Alexander Heifler, 26, discussed his plans to kill the activist, Nerdeen Kiswani, 31, with an undercover detective who had infiltrated the new group, the J.D.L. 613 Brotherhood, the authorities said.
The disrupted plot has drawn attention to a current of chronically online Jewish radicalism in the New York area — one that combines far-right Zionism and the obsession with masculinity that prevails in the “manosphere.”’
Former Tufts student detained over pro-Palestinian op-ed self-deports as part of Trump admin deal (Politico 4/17/26)
“Rumeysa Ozturk, who was arrested by immigration authorities outside her Massachusetts home last year and detained over an op-ed she wrote in the Tufts student newspaper, completed her Ph.D. in child development in February and recently returned to her home country of Turkey, the American Civil Liberties Union announced. Ozturk departed under a settlement with the Trump administration, after an immigration judge rejected the administration’s bid to deport her, the ACLU said…The terms of Ozturk’s departure will likely end ongoing legal wrangling over her case and avoids the possibility of a 10-year prohibition on return to the U.S. if her deportation was ordered and upheld. “After 13 years of dedicated study, I am very proud to have completed my Ph.D. and to return home on my own timeline,” Ozturk said in a statement. “The time stolen from me by the U.S. government belongs not just to me, but to the children and youth I have dedicated my life to advocating for. … I am choosing to return home as planned to continue my career as a woman scholar without losing more time to the state-imposed violence and hostility I have experienced in the United States — all for nothing more than co-signing an op-ed advocating for Palestinian rights.”’
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
‘My life has become a rollercoaster’: Francesca Albanese on death threats, danger and dread after accusing Israel of genocide (The Guardian 4/14/26)
“Albanese was not the first person to describe the Israeli military campaign as a genocide, but she was the first person with the initials UN in her title to do so. She has used her megaphone consistently over the past two years not just to condemn the Israeli government and its military, but also the constellation of western states and corporations that have abetted them. Her message, delivered emphatically in person and in a series of UN reports, is that we are living in an interlocking system that has shown itself capable of mass killing…For her public stance, Albanese’s life has been threatened and her family put in danger. She has faced the prospect of arrest in Germany for her choice of words. Donald Trump’s administration has named her a “specially designated national”, a term usually reserved for terrorists, drug traffickers and the occasional murderous dictator…Trump’s executive order sanctioning Albanese prohibited any American person or entity from providing her with “funds, goods or services” – a description so broad it has been compared to a “civil death”. Her apartment in Washington, bought when she and her family were living in the US capital, has been seized. She can no longer use a credit card anywhere in the world, as almost all such transactions are processed by US-based services…She accuses pro-Israel activists based in Geneva of hounding her husband, Massimiliano Calì, a senior economist at the World Bank, in a campaign that led to him being removed from his lead position running its Syria file…Calì and the couple’s 13-year-old daughter, a US citizen, are suing Trump and top administration officials in federal district court in Washington for the breach of their constitutional rights under the first, fourth and fifth amendments and seizure of property without due process.”
How Many Israelis Does It Take to Kill 300 Lebanese in 10 Minutes? (Amira Hass//Haaretz 4/14/26)
“How many Israelis are needed to kill more than 300 Lebanese and wound more than 1,000 in 10 minutes and a hundred airstrikes? Military experts would surely know how to answer this question, based on the number of fighter jets and drones that departed on their mission on April 8, the first day of the cease-fire with Iran. They would know how to calculate the number of pilots, navigators, ground crew members and intelligence personnel directly involved in the planning and execution. They would include the chief of staff and the General Staff, as well as the prime minister and the defense minister who approved it. A layperson might suggest expanding the list. It should include: 1. The devoted parents who raised their children on love of homeland and readiness to contribute to the state until the last drop of blood of Palestinians, Lebanese and Iranians. 2. The schoolteachers who taught them not to ask questions when they are inside a tank or cockpit. 3. The university faculty who boast that students choose to study with them between one bombing and another of entire residential neighborhoods…”
What Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli right really mean when they invoke ‘Greater Israel’ (Daniel Levy//The Guardian 4/13/26)
“When it’s invoked on the Israeli right, “Greater Israel” is often seen as a purely territorial concept: an attempt to increase the size of territory that Israel claims as its own. This is certainly integral to its meaning. After all, Israel has been expansionist and entailed the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians since its inception, and this process has now accelerated considerably…However, Greater Israel should be seen as a geopolitical and strategic concept as much as a territorial one. The acquisition and control of land is, in many respects, the obvious and easy part. Israel’s prime minister is pursuing something both more ambitious and more sophisticated than the simple control of territory – a project of dominion that is made up of new alliances, underwritten by hard power dependency…In recent speeches, Netanyahu has started referring to Israel not only as a “regional superpower”, but “in some respects, a global superpower”. Israel is looking to place itself at the centre of a regional alliance that could be sustained even if US power draws down. Netanyahu has promised that the hexagon alliance would be deployed against the “radical Shia axis … and the emerging radical Sunni axis”. Israel has not been shy in naming the next “threat” to be addressed: Turkey.”
A Body That Outlived Its Heart (Abdullah Hany Daher//Jewish Currents 4/15/26)
“Over time, I have realized I am no longer the same person. The grief that at first flowed with my tears now has calcified in my chest with no release. And the fear that once dominated my body has begun to fade. In the beginning, when the bombs fell, the trembling of my jaw would not stop. My body shook on its own, my breath breaking even as I sat motionless. But now I no longer have the strength to fear, as if everything I have endured has drained the last drop of my ability to feel. I don’t flinch at the news of an entire family being killed. I don’t shake at the sound of nearby bombing. I am not searching for my tears anymore. It is as if I have become another wall of Gaza, shattered, but still there. The pain has not ended, but its shape has changed. The question “Why am I alive and they are not?” no longer torments me. A harsher question has replaced it: “Am I truly alive, or just a body moving with a dead heart?” A heart that no longer trembles, no longer rages, no longer breaks, but instead stands in a terrifying silence.”
Queer Palestine: An interview with Sa’ed Atshan (Jad Khairallah//Rekto:Verson 4/9/26)
Atshan: “The queer Palestinian movement is fundamentally anti-Zionist and anti-imperial, given that queer liberation is fundamentally anti-colonial. At the same time, decolonization is fundamentally queer. Sometimes purity politics vis-a-vis anti-imperialism loses sight of the latter. The present context of genocide in the Gaza Strip and incremental genocide in the West Bank is undeniable and demands urgent action from the international community, primarily to end Israeli crimes and hold the state and its perpetrators accountable. There is no contradiction between that urgency and affirming the struggle of LGBTQ people in Palestine for dignity, both in the short and long term. Queer strategies may differ depending on the context and the severity of violence, but queer resistance must never cease altogether.’”
Confessions of a Campus Radical: Steven Salaita on censorship, political violence, antisemitism, and why he returned to the academy. (Evan Goldstein and Len Gutkin//Chronicle of Higher Education 4/3/26)
Salaita: “What I object to most is how the demand to disavow violence does not exist for those on the pro-Israel side. They can discuss Israeli politics and policies and Palestinian society without having to disavow Israeli violence. The constant demand for disavowal speaks to a particular marginalization of Palestinian realities. It suggests a moral hierarchy in which Palestinians have to account for themselves in ways that the more powerful party does not.”
Why I will not stand for Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day siren (Orly Noy//+972 Magazine 4/13/26)
“Tomorrow, for the first time since I immigrated to Israel at the age of nine, I will not stand for the siren on Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day. Across the country, a two-minute siren rings out on that day every year, bringing traffic to a halt and people into silent attention. Out of reverence for the victims of the most terrible tragedy in Jewish history, I can no longer take part in these state rituals. I refuse to join ceremonies conducted by a state that has become a kingdom of death — one whose entire essence desecrates the memory of the victims it claims to honor…A state that commits genocide cannot meaningfully commemorate the Holocaust. Each ceremony it holds in its name defiles the memory of the victims.”
PHOTOS: How hypermilitarism pervades everyday life in Israel (Nissi Peli//+972 Magazine 4/10/26)
“Contemporary Israeli society is characterized by hypermilitarism. This form of militarism is not merely a political philosophy: it is a state of being that fundamentally structures the self, shaping our imagination, thoughts, desires, relationships, and sense of our collective as Israelis. Almost everything is perceived and understood in military terms, values, and imagery, while a permanent state of emergency and war become the natural order. This ideology spans the Israeli spectrum from the spiritual and theological militarism of hilltop youth and religious settlers, to the secular, liberal militarism that is prominent among the Israeli bourgeoisie. At almost any point in life, Israelis see themselves and those around them through a military lens: as soldiers-to-be (as pre-service youth, and later as potential reservists), active-duty soldiers, or former soldiers…Much has already been said about the sociology of militarism in Israel: how high-ranking military officials regularly go on to become successful politicians, how journalists receive their training in military media units; how cafés and bars and trains are crowded with armored soldiers and civilians, and how the education system participates in militaristic indoctrination and the army’s recruitment efforts. What often goes under the radar, however, is the way that militarism permeates everyday life in Israel in its more banal forms — a phenomenology of the militarized everyday.”
A Stunning New Verdict Rewrites the Rules of Corporate Morality (M. Gessen//NYT 4/17/26)
“For the first time in France, and possibly for the first time ever, anywhere, an entire corporation had been put on trial and found criminally liable for enabling terrorism…The court had concluded that between 2013 and 2014, the cement maker paid about $6.5 million to the Islamic State and other terrorist groups in Syria, to facilitate the company’s operations there. Lafarge — now owned by the Swiss conglomerate Holcim — will have to pay about $1.3 million in fines for the crime of financing terrorism and $5.3 million for violating international sanctions. In another case, Lafarge is facing charges of complicity in crimes against humanity. If that case goes to trial and Lafarge is again found guilty, a new chapter in the prosecution of war crimes may begin.”
Can a renewed Joint List survive until Israel’s elections? (Samah Salaime//+972 Magazine 4/14/26)
“The leaders of Israel’s four Arab parties say they agree on the importance of a unified electoral alliance. Yet they remain divided on the terms of the pact…Within Palestinian society, a supermajority supports the reestablishment of a Joint List. The desire for unity is so strong that no politician in the Arab community today is willing to be responsible for the alliance’s failure. That reluctance, borne partly of guilt and partly of fear of public criticism, is an encouraging sign and has become a powerful political force in its own right…Now, the bad news: their ideological orientations of the four Arab parties, ranging from secular Palestinian nationalism and socialism to Islamist and accommodationist approaches, leave them divided on the terms of a revived Joint List. The dispute is less about the allocation of Knesset seats than about electoral strategy and, crucially, whether to join an anti-Netanyahu coalition government. And that may prove far more difficult to resolve.”
These US Jews wanted to show solidarity with Palestinians. Israel deported them. (Religion News 4/13/26);
“Since Jan. 1, 2025, at least 52 international activists have been deported, according to the Human Rights Defenders Fund, a nonprofit legal group that represented them in deportation hearings. Dozens of others have been notified by email that their Electronic Travel Authorizations were revoked, which means they will not be able to reenter Israel once they leave. The exact number of deportations is not known. Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority did not respond to RNS’ request for comment by the date of publication. Of those 52 deportations, at least a dozen were U.S. Jews who had volunteered with various nonprofits to accompany Palestinians during last year’s olive harvest or this year’s sheep grazing season…Many attended Jewish day schools and summer camps in the U.S. Nearly all have traveled to Israel before and have deep connections there. Some have parents who are rabbis or Jewish educators. But as a group, they are also sharply critical of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and of what they call the system of apartheid that grants Jews legal supremacy over Palestinians.”
Four New Poems by Zena Agha (The Key 4/17/26)
“These poems were written during the fever dream of maternity leave—moving between the intimate and the political, confronting the grief and joy of becoming a parent during global catastrophe and facing the question of what it means to herald life in a time of genocide. In these selected works, I navigate two parallel but overlapping ruptures: the birth of a child and the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Two Teeth and Four Teeth track the passage of time—not by weeks and months, but by the slow, insistent emergence of the baby’s teeth as war rages on. Those events became intimately intertwined—and these poems explore the disorientation of that.”