NEW FROM FMEP
Six Months into the Iran War (New podcast episode)
FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with journalist and commentator Negar Mortazavi about the developments & dynamics around the now six-month old war in Iran. They discuss what the U.S. got wrong in its expectations for the war, why the MOU between the U.S. & Iran broke down, and how the economic warfare of sanctions is working. They also look at what is happening on the ground in Iran, including with the possibility of real opposition to the regime, and how the Iranian diaspora is navigating the war, opposition to the regime, and divisions in the diaspora.
FMEP Legislative Round-Up September 11, 2026 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters & Reports; 3. Hearings & Markups; 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
Settlement & Annexation Report: September 11, 2026 (Kristin McCarthy)
WEST BANK: Three Outposts “Legalized,” Court Rejects E-1 Emergency Petition, Israel Demolishes Another Village in South Hebron Hills, Reports Say Bib Ordered 100 Outposts Removed, Govt Requests More Funds for WB Land Registration; New Joint Report on Ethnic Cleansing Extending to Areas A & B; EAST JERUSALEM: New Hotel in Abu Tor/Silwan; INTERNATIONAL SCENE: UK, France & Canada Announce Ban on Trade with Israeli Settlements; BONUS READS
GLOBAL/REGION
UK government bans goods from Israeli settlements and accuses settlers of ‘ethnic cleansing’ (AP 9/8/26)
“The United Kingdom on Tuesday banned trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where it says “settler terrorists” are carrying out “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians, in a significant toughening of Britain’s stance toward a longtime ally. France and Canada announced they would take similar action in an attempt to prevent expanding settlements and growing violence from making it impossible to establish a future Palestinian state.” See also UK accuses Israeli ‘terrorists’ of ethnic cleansing in West Bank with government backing (The Guardian 9/8/26); Israel to close British consulate in Jerusalem after sanctions announced (Guardian 9/8/26); UK to expand settlement sanctions to occupied Golan Heights, East Jerusalem (New Arab 9/11/26); Senior UK rabbis come out in support of sanctions on Israeli settlements (The Guardian 9/9/26);
I believe in a two-state solution in the Middle East. That’s why we’re taking action to keep that hope alive (Andy Burnham//The Guardian 9/8/26)
“For too long, we have been hesitant to act, fearful of being accused of being anti-Israel. Today we are announcing carefully judged, targeted steps that are not aimed at the Israeli people, but at the unacceptable policies of the current Israeli government…First, we will ban the trade in goods with illegal settlements in Palestine. Second, we have formally changed the view of the British government to say for the first time that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful – independent of, but in line with, the conclusion of the international court of justice. And third, we will sanction individuals and companies that support, facilitate or profit from illegal settlements. That includes any businesses or investors that take part in the construction of the E1 settlement. In addition, we are announcing a new package of desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza.” See also Trump didn’t oppose UK sanctions on Israeli settlements (Axios 9/8/26); Ed Miliband has overturned decades of Foreign Office inertia on illegal Israeli settlements (The Guardian 9/8/26)
11 European countries and Canada sanction products from Israeli settlements in West Bank (Le Monde 9/9/26)
“A milestone was reached in relations between Israel and its European allies on Tuesday, September 8, with the joint announcement by the United Kingdom, France and nine European countries (Denmark, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Sweden), as well as Canada, of sanctions against products originating from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The implementation of these measures, which still needs to be defined by each country, resulted from the inability of the 27 member states of the European Union to agree on a joint action. Nonetheless, the announcement is significant. It signals a shift toward sanctioning all settlements – not just a handful of violent actors and organizations – while rejecting the gradual normalization on which Israel had long relied.” See also Australia considers new Israel sanctions but won’t join UK in banning trade with ‘settler terrorists’ (Guardian 9/8/26); Israeli Allies Ban Trade With Settlements as U.K. Cites ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ (NYT 9/8/26);
Blast Shakes Southern Lebanon as Israel Destroys Underground Hezbollah Base (NYT 9/11/26)
“A huge explosion sent shock waves across southern Lebanon overnight, as the Israeli military said it had destroyed an underground Hezbollah base in a strategically significant area of Israel’s conflict with the Iran-backed militia. The blast lit up the sky with a sudden orange flash and tore through the Ali al-Taher ridge, a commanding hilltop about six miles from the border between Israel and Lebanon that Israeli forces captured earlier this month…The Israeli destruction of the underground base at the ridge fueled concerns among residents about a deepening Israeli military presence and an expansion of military operations in southern Lebanon.” See also Israel says it destroyed Hezbollah tunnels in Ali al-Taher ridge: What to know (Al Monitor 9/10/26); Israel Says It Is Cementing Its Foothold in Southern Lebanon (NYT 9/4/26); Israeli Strike in Lebanon Kills 12 People From a Single Family, Including 6 Children (Drop Site 9/9/26);
How ‘Made in Israel’ is powering European security (Antoaneta Roussi//Politico 9/9/26)
“As the continent races to rearm, it has largely relied on the United States for guns, tanks and aircraft. For many of the less-visible systems now at the center of modern security — sensors, interceptors, surveillance technology — governments are increasingly turning to Israel. That dependence is deepening even as Europe’s political relationship with Israel grows more strained. The wars in Gaza and Lebanon have fueled tensions between the European Union and Israel, even as the bloc’s governments have become increasingly dependent on the country for critical systems — but those disputes have done little to slow cooperation between Israel’s defense sector and individual countries.” See also Israel sanctions will not hurt intelligence sharing between spy agencies, says Miliband (The Guardian 9/9/26); Germany to fight claims at ICJ it is ‘facilitating’ Gaza genocide by arming Israel (TOI 9/7/26);
GAZA
Food Is Finally Available in Gaza, but Many Families Can’t Afford It (Haaretz 9/8/26)
“Food has largely returned to markets and store shelves in Gaza, and prices have decreased from wartime highs, yet families in the Strip tell Haaretz they still cannot afford to eat. Destroyed livelihoods, depleted savings and accumulated debt have nevertheless left many unable to buy what is displayed and, for the first time in two years, available…More than 1.4 million people – 67 percent of Gaza’s population – are projected to face crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse through the end of 2026, according to the report.” See also IDF kills commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade in southern Gaza airstrike (TOI 9/11/26);
‘Guilt by association’: why seven international aid workers were killed in Israeli airstrike (The Guardian 9/5/26)
“Seven aid workers killed in an airstrike in Gaza were marked as targets under an Israeli military practice of establishing guilt by association, a Guardian investigation shows. A top Israeli military prosecutor announced last month that he would not pursue criminal proceedings for the April 2024 incident in which drones fired missiles at three clearly marked World Central Kitchen (WCK) cars soon after they had escorted a food aid delivery to Gaza. Three British humanitarian workers along with an Australian, a Palestinian, a Pole and a dual US-Canadian national were killed…However, interviews with senior Israeli officers involved in the incident or familiar with the official Israel investigation suggest it glossed over the role played in the killings by a common IDF practice used to designate targets, which endangers aid workers and civilians in general, especially when combined with the army’s open-ended mission to end Hamas’s civil control in Gaza.” See also Death on the road to Rafah: the night the IDF targeted World Central Kitchen aid workers (The Guardian 9/5/26);
The moment a human life becomes ‘collateral damage’ (Mahmoud Mushtaha//+972 Magazine 9/11/26)
“‘NAZA” does not show what that violence looked like: The dust, the screams, the panicked calls to find out who survived, the mothers searching through the rubble for their children, the names of missing loved ones being shared frantically in family WhatsApp groups, before the devastating news is confirmed. I lived through all of that in Gaza. But as I watched the film, I realized that while we were still oblivious to the horrors ahead, there had been people watching, calculating, and making decisions that would define entire families’ futures. That was what the film opened up for me, a part of the crime I had known about but could never fully grasp: The moment before the violence, when a human life is still being lived but has already been counted as an acceptable loss; when a person eating dinner, lying in bed, or talking to their wife or child becomes a number on a screen…I did not feel that the film had finally given me a voice — I knew I already had one. What it gave me was the strange, exhausting experience of hearing an echo of things we had been saying for years, and discovering how differently the same truth sounds when it travels through a different mouth.” See also Secret systems used by Israel in mass killings of Gaza civilians revealed in new film (The Guardian 9/10/26)
‘NAZA’: Exposing Israel’s killing machine in Gaza (Yuval Abraham & Rachel Szor//+972 Magazine 9/10/26)
“Over the past three years, we conducted night-time interviews on the rooftops of Tel Aviv with 24 Israeli soldiers who played an active role in Israel’s onslaught on Gaza. Most of them were intelligence officers, working behind screens and participating remotely in the mass killing of Palestinians…We interviewed these soldiers not because this was the only way to know what Israel has done in Gaza. Anyone who has seen the devastation in the Strip, listened to Gaza’s residents, or simply took Israeli leaders at their word should have recognized this truth years ago. We made this film for one simple reason: We understood that testimonies from officers and soldiers in the army that annihilated Gaza — those who conducted the surveillance, who calculated how many innocent people were likely to be killed in each house, and who repeatedly gave the green light to bomb entire families — would make it even harder to deny the crimes. And that denial is part of what allows these crimes to continue until today…The conclusion that we draw from the testimonies is clear: The mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza was not a “tragic byproduct” of a war against Hamas, as it is commonly portrayed in Israel, but a premeditated, calculated, and intentional act…Granting anonymity to people who, by their own accounts, took part in horrific crimes is not something we take lightly. But given the continued perpetration of these crimes, we felt an obligation to make their accounts public in the hope that it might contribute to efforts to bring the onslaught to an end.”
RIVER TO THE SEA
The Warning Benjamin Netanyahu Ignored (Ruth Margalit//New Yorker 9/8/26)
“An Israeli news article on Tuesday morning managed to roil even a war-weary and jaded public. Published in Haaretz, its headline read: “Netanyahu Received an Explicit Warning Days Before Oct. 7. He Didn’t Brief Israel’s Security Chiefs.” The article, drawn from a new book by the journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval, reveals that, a week and a half before Hamas led the October 7th attacks on Israel, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, the President of the United Arab Emirates, called Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, with a specific warning. During a forty-five-minute conversation, according to the report, bin Zayed cautioned that Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza, was “preparing a major event” in the near future. Sinwar was quoted in the article as telling an official from the rival Fatah faction that he was planning a “zilzal”—an “earthquake.” Netanyahu seemed untroubled, a close adviser to the Emirati ruler told the journalists. He didn’t update the heads of Israel’s security establishment about the conversation. Instead, he assured bin Zayed that Israel was “prepared for any scenario.” If anything, he said, the “volatile” area was not Gaza but the West Bank. Bin Zayed was so startled that Netanyahu was making light of the situation that he expressed concerns to the C.I.A. director, William J. Burns.” See also Revealed: Netanyahu Received an Explicit Warning Days Before Oct. 7. He Didn’t Brief Israel’s Security Chiefs (Shlomi Eldar & Ruth Yuval//Haaretz 9/8/26); Netanyahu threatens to sue Haaretz for reporting UAE warned Israel of Oct. 7 attack (Al Monitor 9/9/26);
Israel’s election takes shape as 38 parties submit slates, in battle between pro- and anti-Netanyahu blocs (TOI 9/9/26)
“Israel’s upcoming election officially took shape on Tuesday night, as the last of 38 parties submitted their candidate slates for the October 27 vote…But while the candidate lists featured a smattering of new names and last-moment recruits, there were no eleventh-hour mergers. Despite heavy speculation that some parties would unite, the flurry of party registrations this week ended with the electoral landscape largely unchanged, and still deadlocked between supporters and opponents of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.” See also Yair Golan files $843,000 suit against Sara Netanyahu over Oct. 7 conspiracy theory (TOI 9/10/26); Ahead of the Elections, Israel Speeds West Bank Land Seizures Through Archaeology (Haaretz 9/2/26);
Israel imposes curriculum on 45,000 Palestinian students in East Jerusalem (MEE 9/1/26)
“Israeli authorities are imposing their curriculum on more than 45,000 Palestinian students in state-run schools in East Jerusalem, as part of a wider crackdown on education in the occupied area of the city. The new measures mean that around 38 percent of all Palestinian students – a marked increase on recent years – will be taught the Israeli curriculum rather than the Palestinian one from Tuesday. This includes all new first grade and seventh grade classes opening in the state education system in East Jerusalem. The Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate spokesperson Maarouf al-Rifai said the decision represented a dangerous escalation and one unprecedented since 1967, the year Israel occupied East Jerusalem. He called the move a direct attack on the Palestinian national and cultural identity of Jerusalem, saying the imposition of the Israeli curriculum was particularly dangerous given the marginalisation of “fundamental topics regarding the Palestinian narrative and history – foremost among them the Nakba, prisoners, and Jerusalem”.’
The Israeli right is rekindling a Zionist classic: Judaizing the Galilee (Baker Zoubi//+972 Magazine 9/7/26)
“The Israeli right has an old-new target in its sights ahead of next month’s election: After Gaza, the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Naqab (Negev), right-wing politicians are now increasingly vowing to crack down on Palestinian existence in the Galilee, in northern Israel. The policy known as “Judaizing the Galilee” dates back to Israel’s early decades, when it was characterized by large-scale land confiscations, restrictions on the expansion of Arab towns, and the establishment of new Jewish communities — all aimed at reshaping the region’s demographic and spatial balance. The spirit of that policy never went away; Arab urban planning in the region has remained heavily restricted in favor of Jewish settlement. But in recent weeks, the Israeli right has renewed this campaign in full voice.”
Israel’s new West Bank separation wall closes in on Palestinian communities (Oren Ziv//+972 Magazine 9/9/26)
“By then, Israel had already announced plans for the “Crimson Thread,” a new separation barrier within the West Bank that is intended to eventually stretch some 300 miles from the occupied Golan Heights to the Red Sea, effectively annexing tens of thousands of dunams of Palestinian land…Construction of the barrier is in full swing, which, alongside sustained pressure by settlers and the army, has forced dozens of families to leave. There are also Palestinian communities trapped east of the barrier, struggling to bring in food and water or reach nearby villages and towns for basic services. From a new outpost on Mount Tammun, known as “Tamon,” settlers in military fatigues now roam the area and terrorize Palestinian residents, and one even drives a military Hummer. The outpost is one of 19 settlements whose establishment was announced last year by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich — including Ganim and Kadim, two West Bank settlements evacuated during Israel’s 2005 “disengagement” from Gaza.” See also Israeli Settlers Have Imposed a Curfew and Blocked the Entrance to This West Bank Village (Truthout 9/4/26)
Israeli Settler Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison for Killing Palestinian Woman in 2018 (Haaretz 9/9/26)
“Aisha Rabi, 47, a resident of Biddya and mother of nine, was killed when a rock thrown at the car she was traveling in struck her in the head near the Rehelim settlement in the northern West Bank. The convict was 15 at the time of the attack, and his name cannot be published under Israeli law. The court convicted him of manslaughter under circumstances constituting a terrorist act…The court also ordered him to pay Rabi’s family the maximum fine of 258,000 shekels ($85,611). His attorneys, Ariel Atari and Adi Keidar, who represented him on behalf of the right-wing Honenu legal aid organization, said he had been convicted of an act he did not commit.”
U.S. SCENE
U.S. Support for Palestinians Continues to Eclipse Sympathy for Israelis, Poll Shows (Haaretz 9/11/26)
“Slightly more American voters say their sympathies lie more with Palestinians than Israelis, according to a new poll from Quinnipiac University, adding to evidence of the growing animosity toward Israel among the U.S. electorate. Thirty-eight percent of voters said they favored the Palestinians, compared with 35 percent who favored the Israelis. The remainder expressed no preference. This marks the first time that Quinnipiac’s regular polling showed more Americans favoring Palestinians over Israelis…Part of the shift comes from Republicans, who have historically been more supportive of Israel, becoming more supportive of the Palestinians…In July, Haaretz reported that Israel has spent some $100 million in overseas campaigns to improve its image and shape public opinion over its wars in Gaza and Iran. Haaretz revealed in June that the Israeli government paid over $40 million for an influence campaign aimed at Christian Republicans – three times the budget originally allocated to it. The campaign launched late last year, and it’s now expanding and focusing its messaging on an attempt to justify the war in Iran.”
Mike Huckabee visits West Bank to meet with relatives of slain Palestinian-Americans (NPR 9/6/26)
“Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, says he will continue to denounce what he calls acts of terrorism against Palestinians by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. However, he says the U.S. is limited in its power to curb the escalating violence, which has spiked dramatically this year. Ambassador Mike Huckabee referred to the settlers as terrorists during a visit Saturday to the Palestinian town of Turmus Ayya. He visited with relatives of Palestinian-Americans killed by settlers. Many of the residents there are U.S. citizens. Huckabee, a Baptist minister, has made several visits to the West Bank — which he refers to by its biblical name Judea and Samaria. He is a long time supporter of Israel’s settler movement and says those carrying out the violence are a “very tiny minority.” When asked by the residents what the U.S. will do to stop the violence against American citizens, Huckabee said U.S. jurisdiction is limited.”
United Airlines Ships War Materiel to Israel Aboard Passenger Flights (The Intercept 9/9/26)
“United Airlines is set to resume the shipment of military hardware to Israel aboard passenger flights, according to shipping data reviewed by The Intercept. The airline, one of the biggest in the world, had halted the practice more than six months ago amid the outbreak of the war on Iran…The shipments appear to be a return to status quo for United, which had used civilian passenger flights to transport thousands of shipments of military cargo to Israel amid its wars in the occupied Gaza Strip and Lebanon and in the run-up to its joint attack on Iran alongside the U.S., according to a new report released this week by Movement Research Unit, Palestinian Youth Movement, People’s Embargo for Palestine, and the Democratic Socialists of America.”
At a national Jewish conference, a speaker said Muslims should ‘get the f— out’ of America. Its organizers won’t condemn him. (The Forward 9/9/26)
“Islamophobic remarks made by a speaker during a national Jewish conference in Los Angeles have drawn condemnation from the city’s mayor. But national and local Jewish groups who organized and funded the program have largely remained silent. Mosab Hassan Yousef, a former Israeli intelligence asset whose father is a Hamas co-founder, made the inflammatory comments Aug. 30 at the Jewish American Summit, an annual event organized by Aish LA, an Orthodox Jewish organization, and co-sponsored by more than a dozen other Jewish groups, including the local federation and the Anti-Defamation League…Only two of the conference’s roughly 15 sponsors — many of which sent speakers to the event — disavowed Yousef’s remarks in response to the Forward’s inquiries. The Anti-Defamation League’s Los Angeles regional office called them “vile and unacceptable” in a statement. And the Los Angeles Jewish federation said the rant was “hateful, indefensible, and contrary to everything the Jewish Federation stands for.” Like the ADL, it said it had no part in selecting the speakers. (Neither group has published its statement on its own channels.)” See also Miami-Dade county in Florida raises the limit on investments in Israel bonds (JTA 9/7/26); At Two Jewish Conferences, Speakers Turn Fears of Antisemitism Into Attacks on Islam (Haaretz 9/11/26);
Israeli consul general Ofir Akunis’ Rosh Hashanah message: ‘Wake up’ (JTA 9/11/26)
“Ofir Akunis, Israel’s consul general in New York, was not being subtle. In a recent interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency at his office in Midtown East ahead of Rosh Hashanah, Akunis likened Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s support for the Israel boycott movement to tactics used by Nazi Germany, called the mayor an “antisemite” and said Mamdani bears direct responsibility for attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions in New York…Akunis has not met with Mamdani, and says he would not do so until the mayor recognizes Israel as a Jewish state; Mamdani has said Israel has a right to exist as a state “with equal rights for all,” and that he cannot endorse states that privilege one “religion” over another.”
J Street super PAC spends $3M to defeat AIPAC-backed Republicans (Axios 9/9/26)
“The liberal pro-Israel group J Street is launching a $3 million offensive against five AIPAC-backed Republicans in some of the nation’s most competitive midterm races, Axios has learned…The battle over Israel, which roiled Democratic primaries and fueled tens of millions of dollars in outside spending, is spilling into the general election and pitting two pro-Israel groups against each other…The J Street Action Fund is targeting Georgia Senate candidate Mike Collins, Reps. Max Miller of Ohio, Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin, Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania and Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa. It’s the first time J Street has gone on offense against AIPAC-backed incumbents across a significant number of competitive races. And the investment is the largest super PAC expenditure in J Street’s history.” See also J Street goes on the offensive against AIPAC-backed candidates (JTA 9/11/26);
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
Why I’m Suing Columbia University for Anti-Palestinian Discrimination (Maryam Alwan//The Key 9/11/26)
“I graduated from Columbia University in 2025 so most of my time on campus coincided with Israel’s genocide in Gaza. As a student and organizer, I was made to feel, time and again, that my safety did not matter. I had been so thoroughly dehumanized that, upon graduating, I was surprised to discover that other people didn’t treat me as a threat. In the time that came after October 7, Columbia University became a hostile environment for its Palestinian campus members, which is why my colleagues and I filed a lawsuit against the university for anti-Palestinian discrimination last month. My four co-plaintiffs are fellow Palestinian students and faculty members of Columbia who suffered egregious harm while on campus as the university stood back and did nothing or in some cases, took unfair action against us. The harms ranged from being disciplined for speaking about Israel’s killing of their family members in Gaza, to being stalked, followed, photographed, recorded, and posted while on campus. Nearly all of us were subjected to systemic doxxing by Columbia affiliates that went uninvestigated, meanwhile each of us was subjected to biased and baseless disciplinary hearings for protected speech by the ironically named Office of Institutional Equity (OIE)…Virtually no form of pro-Palestinian expression was permitted at Columbia. By the time I’d graduated, I had been arrested, suspended, and prosecuted for everything from peaceful protest to an op-ed in the campus newspaper to emails.”
The UK’s sanctions on Israeli settlements are a great victory – but must be only the beginning (Em Hilton//The Guardian 9/10/26)
“The announcement on Tuesday by the foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, of an import ban on goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, as well as a comprehensive sanctions regime, is a hard-won victory for the Palestine solidarity movement. This is not simply a change of heart by the government: it is a direct result of sustained pressure from activists and organisers across the Palestine movement, who have consistently held the government’s feet to the fire over its complicity in the atrocities being committed in Gaza and the West Bank. Miliband’s announcement shows us what organised and persistent campaigning can achieve, and inspires confidence that movements can force political change.” See also U.K. Settlement Sanctions Are About Accountability, Not Antisemitism (Em Hilton//Haaretz 9/8/26)