Jeremy Ben-Ami

Two Years After October 7: It is Time for Peace Hardliners may scoff at “peace,” a word at the heart of Jewish liturgy, but to honor the victims of these two horrific years, we must reclaim it.

My full reflections on Substack here:
🔗 jstreetdotorg.substack.com/p/two-years-...

Right-wing leaders may scoff at peace, and others, on the center-left, may shy away from the word. I can’t accept that. To honor the victims, Israeli & Palestinian, we must reclaim it.

This war must end. The hostages must come home. Aid must reach Gaza. It’s time for peace. 6/6

Peace. In Jewish tradition, it’s not just another blessing – it’s the final blessing. The culmination of the seven central prayers we recite daily and on holidays. As my prayerbook this Yom Kippur noted, there are more expressions lauding peace than any other value in Judaism. 5/6

On a recent trip, a close friend of his told me, “Peace must be the path forward. Gaza’s people must be given something to live for.” His faith, after all he endured, moved me to tears. 4/6

One was Ofir Libstein – the ‘mayor’ of the community who hosted us and other groups with a message of the vital importance of peace with his neighbors in Gaza. Libstein died in the early hours of October 7 defending his community. 3/6

I think today of Kfar Aza – the small, idyllic kibbutz less than two miles from Gaza.

I’ve brought many J Street groups there over the years, and I can picture many of its residents who were murdered that day. 2/6

Two years after the horrors of October 7, I remain as committed as ever to peace – a word stigmatized by too many on the right and abandoned by too many on the center left. My commitment to reclaiming the word is my way of honoring those lost. 1/6

Smotrich says he’ll okay 3,000 homes east of Jerusalem, ‘burying idea of Palestinian state’ E1 settlement project that would split West Bank into north and south has been on hold for decades amid international pressure; settler leader hails 'historical achievement'

Smotrich will fail. Bulldozers, concrete and settlements can't bury a people’s desire for self-determination. As Jews, we know: 2,000 years never erased our dream of being a free people in our own land. Israel's future depends on assisting Palestinian freedom, not denying it.

Half the Story: What US Leaders Miss on Their Trips to Israel Speaker Johnson and Democratic and Republican AIPAC Delegations this week could use a post-trip briefing on occupation, settlements and the realities driving the conflict.

You can read more about our delegation – and what other trips are missing here: jeremybenami.substack.com/p/half-the-s...

13/ If US leaders keep looking away from settlement expansion, settler violence & extremist provocation, we’ll remain complicit.

There’s still time to change course – but only if we stop ignoring the parts of the story that don’t fit neatly into a photo op.

12/ Anyone sponsoring travel to the region – especially for elected officials – owes their guests the full picture: Gaza, the West Bank, Jerusalem.

Anything less is tourism with a security briefing.

11/ For 30 years, the US told Israel: Don’t build E-1. This week, Members of Congress on these other trips were close enough to see the site … but instead, they had dinner with Netanyahu in an illegal settlement.

10/ E-1. A planned settlement east of Jerusalem that would cut the West Bank in half, making a Palestinian state impossible.

This week, the final Israeli hearing on objections to E-1 was held. The decision now rests with Netanyahu.

9/ This is the most explosive flashpoint in the conflict. In 2000, Ariel Sharon’s visit – without praying – helped spark the Second Intifada.

Policymakers need to understand the danger, and that it’s being stoked by leading members of Israel’s own government.

8/ The Temple Mount / Haram al-Sharif. The holiest site in Judaism, third holiest in Islam. Many trips never go up to the Mount.

Last week, extremist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir led open Jewish prayer there – a direct violation of the Status Quo that’s kept the peace since 1967.

7/ As we mourned, women in the village were on a hunger strike to demand Awdah’s body be returned.

Policymakers who visit these communities come home determined to oppose settler violence. Other trips don’t meet the Palestinians on the receiving end of this extremism.

6/ Umm al-Khair. A Palestinian village in the South Hebron Hills, denied water & electricity by Israeli authorities, facing constant settler violence.

We joined in mourning Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian activist shot dead last week by a settler sanctioned by the Biden admin.

5/ What they missed: Empty markets, streets cut off from Palestinian residents, wire mesh to stop settlers from throwing trash and stones at Palestinian homes.

4/ Hebron. Once bustling, now a ghost town where 600 settlers have displaced thousands of Palestinians.

Speaker Johnson’s group took smiling photos at the Tomb of the Patriarchs. We walked 100 yards further – to a checkpoint where Palestinians are barred from their own streets.

3/ On a @jstreetdotorg.bsky.social trip, though, we spend equal time on both sides of the Green Line – hearing from Israelis and Palestinians, and visiting communities living under 58 years of occupation.

Here are 4 things we saw last week that they didn’t:

2/ All these sponsored trips – including ours – feature briefings with the IDF, a visit to the Western Wall and a trip to Israeli communities on the Gaza border devastated by Hamas on October 7.

1/ Last week, I led a J Street delegation to Israel/Palestine just as Speaker Johnson and two AIPAC-sponsored congressional delegations were on their own tours. Our trips share basic similarities, but what really matters is what their groups didn’t see: 🧵 jeremybenami.substack.com/p/half-the-s...

J Street is deeply proud of the 27 Senators who stood for American interests and values – and more importantly for morality and human decency.

Hamas is an evil terrorist group that can have no role in the leadership of the future of Palestine, but the United States cannot be a party to mass starvation and collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

The Netanyahu government’s conduct of the war in Gaza is beyond the bounds of international law, human decency and Jewish morality.

J Street Welcomes Over Half of Democratic Caucus in the Senate Sending Vital Message of Disapproval to Netanyahu - J Street We commend those senators who have taken a difficult vote in order to say that it is not ‘pro-Israel’ to enable this government’s disastrous path.

Tonight’s vote in the Senate to disapprove selling certain offensive arms to Israel was an historic milestone. Over half the Democratic caucus agreed with the premise that support for Israel’s defense and security cannot be provided in the form of a blank check. jstreet.org/press-releas...

Two young Palestinians – including a Palestinian-American – were just killed in a settler attack. This violence must stop.

Tell your member of Congress to support the West Bank Violence Prevent Act by signing and sharing this @jstreetdotorg petition: act.jstreet.org/sign/congres...

This week, I shared my two cents on Zohran Mamdani’s primary victory in NYC. I argue that not only do we need to engage with those with whom we disagree, but we also have to stand up for one another – Jews, Muslims and everyone alike. jeremybenami.substack.com/p/a-progress...

For over a decade, a driving focus of J Street’s mission has been preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

We have some thoughts on where to go from here – now we’ve seen where diplomacy gets us, and where military strikes get us 🧵