J Street Michigan

We're proud to support the Two-State Solution Act, which embraces a number of actions the US government can and must take in order to truly support a peaceful two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and an end to the occupation of Palestinian Territory.

J Street Welcomes Introduction of the Two-State Solution Act The Two-State Solution Act can help revitalize and reset the US commitment to peacefully resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- ensuring that we are always part of the solution and never part of the problem.

J Street Michigan's cover photo

J Street Michigan

The spirit that built the state of Israel was not grounded in negativity and fear.

http://act.jstreet.org/mailings/view/4297?akid=4297.201611.i7hD18

act.jstreet.org This week, as Prime Minister Netanyahu was visiting the United States, a J Street delegation was visiting Israel and the Palestinian territory.

Bearing the sign of peace

blogs.timesofisrael.com Cain, in the biblical story, murdered his brother Abel, and Cain’s punishment should have been death. However, since Cain......

Rabbi Rick Jacobs Tells Reform Jews To Fight Israel's 'Misguided Policies' - Breaking News

forward.com The leader of American Reform Jewry said Diaspora Jews should not support the misguided policies of Israeli leaders and that Israel should look to North America for moral guidance.

Rabin's assassination changed Israel -- and my life - CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/04/world/yitzhak-rabin-assassination-anniversary/

cnn.com We were 20-somethings, living in Israel, searching for where we fit in. The promise of peace hung in the air until a gunman changed everything.

Iran’s Closing Technology Gap – J Street’s Response | Rabbi John Rosove's Blog

http://www.jewishjournal.com/rabbijohnrosovesblog/item/irans_closing_technology_gap_j_streets_response

jewishjournal.com This past week the Israeli daily Haaretz reported about a closed-door meeting in Tel Aviv in which Major General Herzl Halevi was quoted as warning that Iran’s technology war with the state of Israel is rapidly “narrowing the quality gap.” http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.683442 This wa…

President Obama: Prime Minister Rabin’s vision of peace remains “necessary, just and possible.”

timesofisrael.com In Tel Aviv rally speech on Saturday, President Obama pays tribute to PM Rabin and says "a bullet can take a man’s life, but his dream of peace will never die."

100,000 Gather at Rabin Rally To Hear Clinton, Obama - Breaking News

http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/323723/100-000-gather-at-rabin-rally-to-hear-clinton-obama/

forward.com One hundred thousand Israelis paid tribute to former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin at a rally marking the 20th anniversary of his assassination.

Congresswoman Dingell Statement Supporting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran

Rep Debbie Dingell supports the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action https://debbiedingell.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congresswoman-dingell-statement-supporting-joint-comprehensive-plan

debbiedingell.house.gov DEARBORN, MI – Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12) released the following statement in support of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), reached by the P5+1 nations and Iran. When the Congress returns this September, we face a critical vote that will deeply impact global security. As oth…

Senator Stabenow Statement on Iran Nuclear Agreement

Let's all send Senator Stabenow a thank you for this statement.http://www.stabenow.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1842

stabenow.senate.gov U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow issued the following statement regarding the international agreement between Iran and the P5+1--United States, Germany, France, Russia, China and the United Kingdom--with the European Union to stop Iran's ability to obtain a nuclear weapon:

Ex-Intel Chief: Iran Deal Good for Israel

Former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon and many other former senior intelligence and national security officials in Israel believe that the Iran agreement is—on balance—in the national security interest of the State of Israel.

thedailybeast.com Yes, it’s true: If Obama can toughen the penalties for cheating and pivot to confronting Iran’s support for terrorism, he will enhance Israel's security.

The Morning After the Iran Deal

“The Iran nuclear accord, if carried out faithfully by both sides, will reduce one threat that has destabilized the region,” contends the Times editorial board. “But the larger questions of human rights, competent governance, sectarian conflict and ossified authoritarian control will remain central obstacles to development and peace in the Middle East — and solutions to those problems will not depend on Iran alone.”

nytimes.com With the breakthrough on the nuclear program, it would be a mistake not to test Tehran’s professed interest in working on other issues.

"I would give it an A": Why nuclear experts love the Iran deal

"The thing I was saying [in the spring] was, "The fact sheet looks great, good luck getting that on paper." And then they did it."

vox.com An arms control expert's case for the deal: it is a great way to curb Iran's nuclear program.

US Jewish liberal group J Street hails Iran nuclear deal, warns Congress

“The liberal Jewish lobby J Street on Tuesday praised the agreement struck between the major world powers and Iran over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.”

jpost.com The lobby released a statement hailing the agreement as “meet[ing] the critical criteria for...a deal that verifiably blocks each of Iran’s pathways to a nuclear weapon.”

Nuclear deal or not, Israel faces a dangerous future

Ephraim Sneh warns that “Israel won't be able to fight its enemies properly with the occupation hump on its back. As the policy aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state continues, the diplomatic isolation will grow and Israel's military freedom of action will be limited. [Israel must launch] peace negotiations as soon as possible with the purpose of ending the conflict and establishing a demilitarized Palestinian state on one-fifth of the Land of Israel.

ynetnews.com Opinion: Analysis: If Iran signs an agreement with the world powers, the billions of dollars it stands to receive will boost its strategic strength and support of terror; if an agreement isn't signed, Iran will speed up its attempts to reach a nuclear weapon and regional hegemony.

The Self-Promoting Iran Hawk Too Extreme For AIPAC, And His Campaign To Kill The Nuclear Deal

“As negotiators from Iran and the six-country negotiating team inch closer to a nuclear agreement, [Zionist Organization of America’s Morton] Klein represents the furthest extreme of opposition that any deal is bound to face. It’s easy to see him as a fringe voice in the vast pro-Israel political terrain: His hardline views are not representative of the broader coalition of Iran deal critics. And his undiplomatic touch stands out in a world where many are risk-averse… ‘Even J Street is already much more influential,’ he lamented in a recent interview, referring to the liberal pro-Israel lobbying group.”

huffingtonpost.com WASHINGTON -- Late last year, Morton Klein sat in on an off-the-record conference call hosted by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee where more than 100 donors were being briefed on the group

Sanctions Relief Won’t Be a $100 Billion Windfall for Iran’s Terrorist Friends

Far from being a giveaway to a terrorism-supporting regime… sanctions relief may be the key to creating an Iran with a real stake in the international order,” suggests Richard Nephew.

foreignpolicy.com For one, oil money ain't what it used to be. And second, Tehran has bigger problems to deal with at home.

U.S. State Department: We won’t protect Israeli settlements against boycott - Diplomacy and Defense

"The effort to strengthen the settlements, supported by AIPAC and other mainstream and right-wing groups and opposed by J-Street and organizations on the left, actually ends up weakening them. The attempt to blot out the differences between a boycott of Israel and of the territories actually highlights them. The boycott of settlements, in effect, has now been officially stamped “kosher” by the State Department."

haaretz.com Congressional efforts to extend anti-BDS fight to occupied territories show pro-Israel lobby the perils of biting off more than one can chew.

What Michael Oren Gets Wrong About Jewish Criticism of Israel

Leon Wieseltier argues that “It is not anti-Semitism, or the fear of it, that impels American Jews to disagree with Israel’s policies, but the policies themselves.”

theatlantic.com It is not anti-Semitism, or the fear of it, that leads American Jews to disagree with Israel’s policies, but the policies themselves.

Get The Facts on the Iran Nuclear Deal

J Street is launching IranDealFacts.com– a new website that backs a digital advertising campaign in support of President Obama’s efforts to secure a nuclear deal with Iran.

irandealfacts.com Opponents of diplomacy have intensified their onslaught of false and misleading arguments against the framework agreement to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. But we've got the facts on our side.

ADL demands Michael Oren walk back ‘unjustified attack’ on Obama

"The Anti-Defamation League lashed into former Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren Sunday for a number of “unjustified and insensitive” essays he published in US media, one of which claimed that President Barack Obama’s foreign policy may have been unduly influenced by his early upbringing among adherents of the Muslim faith."

timesofisrael.com Foxman raps ex-envoy for engaging in ‘conspiracy theories’ and ‘amateur psychoanalysis’ in series of op-eds on Israel-US relationship

Yes, the Iran Nuclear Deal Will Be Good for the U.S.

As a practical matter, the U.S. cannot walk away from the tentative agreement that it has negotiated and expect to enlist international support for more sanctions, unless Iran reneges or balks on the bargain.

time.com It buys time

Michael Oren, the problem isn't U.S. critique of Israeli policies – it's Israeli policies - Opinion

"The “daylight” we see today in the U.S.-Israel relationship has been opened not by American criticism of or opposition to Israel's policies but by those policies themselves.

It is hypocritical for Israeli leaders to place the blame for growing tensions solely on the U.S. president while turning a blind eye to the very policies that led the president to articulate his critique in the first place."

haaretz.com J Street president questions whether 'no daylight' and 'no surprises,' the two principles Oren says hold the U.S.-Israel relationship together, really mean what the former ambassador thinks they mean.

2/18/15

Some more photos from J Street Ann Arbor and J Street U Mich Honors the Dingells

John Dingell honored for Middle East policy work

Were you there? If so, post some comments.

www.michigandaily.com Two local chapters of national advocacy organization J Street hosted retired Congressman John Dingell and newly elected Rep. Debbie Dingell (D–Mich.) on Wednesday evening to recognize the former representative’s commitment to security and peace in the Middle East.

At AIPAC, PM Netanyahu Promotes Benefits of Peace: J Street

“Many Arab leaders today already realize that Israel is not their enemy, that peace with the Palestinians would turn our relations with them and with many Arab countries into open and thriving relationships.”- Prime Minister Netanyahu

jstreet.org In his address to the AIPAC National Policy Conference today, Prime Minister Netanyahu made his most compelling case yet to an American audience for a two-state solution.

John Kerry defends peace efforts: I'm committed, not obsessive - Diplomacy and Defense

"Secretary of State John Kerry says he does not does not intend to give up hope of reaching an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians"

haaretz.com In interview with TV program 'Uvda' to air Thursday, Secretary of State talks peace, settlements, and how he first discovered his Jewish roots.

J Street

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Can Kerry's Israeli-Palestinian Peace Efforts Succeed?

A insightful look from Alan Elsner at Secretary Kerry's efforts in comparison to how others in his position have fared.

huffingtonpost.com Neither wants to be blamed for letting the talks fail. As a result, they may find themselves being pushed further down the track of negotiations. It's a high-stakes game and so far it's been an impressive performance. The remainder of 2014 will show ...

“For Zion’s Sake, We Will Not Be Silent” – Rabbis and Cantors Speak Out | Rabbi John Rosove's Blog

Read the full petition here

jewishjournal.com A recent report from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) found that one third of American rabbis are reluctant to express their views on Israel because of intimidation by extremist voices in their communities and out of fear of losing their positions. That needs to change, and so the Rabbin...

New Sanctions Would Foreclose Non-Military Options for Iran

"Sanctions pressure is not an end in itself, but rather a means to the end of changing Iran’s behavior and getting it to live up to its international commitments. Given the stakes, the risks of passing new sanctions now are extremely high."

americanprogress.org The risks of passing new Iran sanctions far outweigh the benefits.

U.S. Senate sanctions bill is all about torpedoing a nuclear deal with Iran - Opinion

“The entire deal is dead.”
-Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif on his government's response to the implementation of new sanctions if the bill proposed by senators Robert Menendez and Mark Kirk passes Congress

haaretz.com How can a bill purportedly aimed at promoting a diplomatic deal with Iran simultaneously pledge unconditional U.S. support for an Israeli attack?

George Perkovich | Why Zero Enrichment for Iran Makes Zero Sense | Foreign Affairs

Avner Golov and Amos Yadlin, the former head of Israeli military intelligence (and one of the pilots who conducted Israel’s 1981 attack on Iraq’s Osiraq nuclear reactor) have written recently, "An attack, no matter how successful, cannot stop Iran’s military nuclear program forever."

foreignaffairs.com In “Still Time to Attack Iran,” Georgetown professor Matthew Kroenig echoes an argument that has been making the rounds in Washington -- that nuclear negotiations must result in the complete elimination of Iran’s nuclear fuel cycle program to be considered a success. This is the standard logic a bip...

West Bank rabbis say price tag attacks contravene Torah and ethical behavior

"It was crucial for rabbis to speak out against such attacks, since the people perpetrating them believe they are doing so in accordance with the Torah"
-Rabbi Ronen Neuwirth, executive director of the Beit Hillel rabbinical association

jpost.com Group of rabbis sign petition forbidding settler attacks, declaring that price tag attacks are unethical and against Jewish faith.

The View from J Street: New Sanctions on Iran Endangers Israel - Jewish Currents

A very thought provoking and insightful look at the Menedez-Kirk Bill (S.1881) and its potiential effects from J Street's Alan Elsner

jewishcurrents.org by Alan Elsner The U.S. Senate may soon face a momentous decision on whether to pass a bill to impose new sanctions against Iran and to force President Obama to take certain actions if a series of stringent conditions are…

Encountering peace: The people's water

An excellent article from Gershon Baskin detailing the issue of water accessibility for both Israelis and Palestinians. This important issue is often overlooked in the discussion of peace.

jpost.com Well, that is the situation today – now there is more than enough water to go around.