Uncategorized
After a ‘Nakba’ event is canceled by Kevin McCarthy, Rashida Tlaib hosts it with help from Bernie Sanders
WASHINGTON (JTA) — After being thwarted by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Rashida Tlaib succeeded in spotlighting Palestinian perspectives on Israel’s founding in an event on Capitol Hill — with help from one of Congress’ most powerful Jewish members, Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The Palestinian-American Democrat from Detroit also introduced a congressional resolution calling on the suspension of some aid to Israel.
Tlaib’s event on Wednesday, called “Nakba 75 & the Palestinian People,” featured the Arabic word for “catastrophe” that Palestinians use to describe the dispersion and expulsion of Palestinians during Israel’s 1948 war for independence. The event included cosponsors that have endorsed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, such as Jewish Voice for Peace and Americans for Justice in Palestine Action.
Tlaib had originally reserved a room in the Capitol Visitors’ Center for the event, but McCarthy canceled it, exercising a rarely used prerogative of his office.
“This event in the US Capitol is canceled,” he wrote on Twitter on Tuesday, sharing an article from the Washington Free Beacon, a right-wing news website that called Tlaib’s event antisemitic. “Instead, I will host a bipartisan discussion to honor the 75th anniversary of the US-Israel relationship.” (Whether that event took place is not clear; McCarthy’s office did not respond to a request for comment.)
That decision earned McCarthy praise from an array of centrist and right-wing pro-Israel groups, which objected to the event, citing the participation of anti-Zionist groups.
“We commend Speaker McCarthy’s decision to shift the focus towards a civil, bipartisan discussion on Israel-US relations,” said a statement from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the foreign policy umbrella for a number of national Jewish groups. “This approach fosters mutual understanding and constructive engagement, laying the foundation for progress towards a more peaceful future.”
Tlaib then turned to the Senate, where Democrats are in the majority and where the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is chaired by Vermont’s Sanders. The progressive leader, who campaigned for her and whom she calls “amo,” or “uncle,” provided the room.
The meeting went ahead as planned, Jewish Insider reported, with the participation of Tlaib and Rep. Cori Bush, a Missouri Democrat who like Tlaib is an outspoken critic of Israel. Sanders’ office confirmed to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the senator signed off on the event, though he did not attend.
“Everyone needs an amo in the Senate,” Jewish Insider quoted Tlaib as telling the room. On Twitter, she was triumphant, writing: “Let the headlines read ‘McCarthy tries to erase Palestine but fails.’”
Centrist pro-Israel groups condemned Sanders for allowing the event to take place.
“It is disgraceful that @SenSanders allowed this event by @RepRashida to be held in our nation’s Capitol,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League who has called anti-Zionism antisemitic, wrote on Twitter. “Real conversations are needed around a path to peace, but not with groups & individuals who espouse antisemitism. We call on the Senate to condemn this event.”
On Wednesday, Tlaib also introduced a resolution marking the Nakba. It cited JVP and other anti-Zionist groups as endorsers, and was cosponsored by a number of Democratic representatives who have joined Tlaib in vocally criticizing Israel, including Bush, Jamaal Bowman of New York, Betty McCollum of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
The resolution calls for the suspension of some forms of defense assistance to Israel. It calls on the United States to “reject efforts to enlist, engage, or otherwise associate the United States Government with denial of the Nakba” and to scrutinize Israel’s actions according to the provisions of the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018, which is named after the famed late Holocaust survivor.
Tlaib’s event and resolution came amid a series of congressional actions celebrating Israel’s 75th birthday, which the country marked in late April. Last month, a bipartisan resolution congratulating Israel passed overwhelmingly in the House and a similar one is under consideration in the Senate. Additionally, the leaders of both parties in the House — Democrat Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader, and McCarthy, a California Republican — visited Israel to join in the commemorations and festivities.
—
The post After a ‘Nakba’ event is canceled by Kevin McCarthy, Rashida Tlaib hosts it with help from Bernie Sanders appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
A quiet diplomatic shift in the Middle East, with monumental consequences for Israel
Something significant is happening between Israel and Syria, and it deserves more attention than it is getting.
With the backing of the United States, Israeli and Syrian officials have agreed to create what they call a “joint fusion mechanism” — a permanent channel for coordination on intelligence, de-escalation, diplomacy and economic matters — during meetings in Paris. It appears to be the beginning of institutionalized contact between two countries that have formally been at war since 1948.
If this process continues, it will count as a genuine foreign-policy success for President Donald Trump’s administration.
To understand how profound that change would be, it is worth recalling the two countries’ shared history.
Israel and Syria — which the U.S. struck with a set of targeted attacks on the Islamic State on Saturday — have fought openly or by proxy for decades. Before 1967, Syrian artillery positions in the Golan Heights regularly shelled Israeli communities in the Hula Valley and around the Sea of Galilee. After Israel captured that region in 1967, the direct shelling stopped, but the conflict did not.
Syria remained formally committed to a state of war; Israel entrenched itself in the Golan Heights; both sides treated the frontier as a potential flashpoint to be managed carefully. After Egypt and Israel made peace in 1979, Syria became Israel’s most dangerous neighboring state.
A 1974 disengagement agreement created a United Nations-monitored buffer zone, which mostly ensured peace along the border, but did not resolve anything fundamental. In Lebanon, Israel and Syria backed opposing forces for years, and their air forces clashed briefly during the 1982 Lebanon War. Later, Iran’s growing role in Syria and Hezbollah’s military buildup added new threats. The Syrian civil war then destroyed basic state capacity and created precisely the kind of militia-rich environment Israel fears along its borders.
Now, with the dictator Bashar al-Assad gone and the former rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in power, Syria is a broken country trying to stabilize. Sharaa’s past associations, disturbingly, include leadership of jihadist groups that were part of the wartime landscape in Syria. But today he governs a state facing economic collapse, infrastructure ruin and a population that needs jobs and basic services. His incentives are simple and powerful: ensure the survival of his regime, invite foreign investment, and secure relief from isolation and sanctions. Those goals point toward the U.S. and its partners, including Israel.
The Trump administration has made it clear that it wants to see new Syrian cooperation with Israel, with the suggestion that progress with Israel will become a gateway to international investment, and to a degree of political acceptance that Syria has lacked for years. Al-Sharaa’s willingness to engage is therefore not a mystery.
Israel’s motivations are also straightforward. After the Gaza war, Israel is facing a severe reputational problem. It is widely viewed abroad as reckless and excessively militarized. The government is under pressure over not only the conduct of the war but also the perception that it has no political strategy and relies almost exclusively on force. A diplomatic track with Syria allows Israel to present a very different picture: that of a country capable of negotiations with ideologically opposed neighbors, de-escalation, and regional cooperation.
There are significant security incentives, too.
Israel wants to limit Iran and Hezbollah’s influence in Syria. It wants a predictable northern border. It wants assurances regarding the Druze population in southern Syria — brethren to the Israeli Druze who are extremely loyal to the state, and who were outraged after a massacre of Syrian Druze followed the installation of al-Sharaa’s regime. It wants to ensure that no armed Syrian groups will tread near the Golan. A coordinated mechanism supervised by the U.S. offers a strong diplomatic way to address these issues.
The U.S. will benefit as well. The Trump team is eager to show that it can deliver lasting diplomatic achievements in the Middle East after the success of the Abraham Accords in Trump’s first term. A meaningful shift in Israel–Syria relations would be a very welcome addition, especially as the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in the Gaza war faces an uncertain future.
The main questions now are practical. Can the “joint fusion mechanism” function under pressure? What will happen when there is, almost inevitably, an incident — a drone downed, a militia clash, a cross-border strike? Will the new system effectively lower the temperature, or will it collapse at the first crisis?
Will Iran — facing its own profound internal political crisis — accept a Syria that coordinates with Israel under U.S. supervision, or will it work to undermine al-Sharaa? How will Hezbollah react if Damascus appears to move away from the axis of “resistance” and toward a security understanding with Israel?
How would an Israel-Syria deal impact Lebanon’s moribund efforts to dismantle Hezbollah’s military capacity? Al-Sharaa has already helped significantly by ending the transfer of weapons to Hezbollah from Iran through his territory. Might he also actively help with the disarming of the group?
No one should expect a full peace treaty soon. The question of possession of the Golan Heights probably remains a deal-breaker. Public opinion in Syria has been shaped by decades of official hostility to Israel, and Israeli politics is fragmented and volatile.
But diplomatic breakthroughs can confound expectations. They usually begin with mechanisms like this one, involving limited cooperation, routine contact and crisis management.
If this effort helps move the border from a zone of permanent tension to one of managed stability, that alone would be a major shift. It would also send a signal beyond the region: U.S. engagement still matters, and American pressure and incentives can still change behavior.
The post A quiet diplomatic shift in the Middle East, with monumental consequences for Israel appeared first on The Forward.
Uncategorized
Israel’s Netanyahu Hopes to ‘Taper’ Israel Off US Military Aid in Next Decade
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview published on Friday that he hopes to “taper off” Israeli dependence on US military aid in the next decade.
Netanyahu has said Israel should not be reliant on foreign military aid but has stopped short of declaring a firm timeline for when Israel would be fully independent from Washington.
“I want to taper off the military within the next 10 years,” Netanyahu told The Economist. Asked if that meant a tapering “down to zero,” he said: “Yes.”
Netanyahu said he told President Donald Trump during a recent visit that Israel “very deeply” appreciates “the military aid that America has given us over the years, but here too we’ve come of age and we’ve developed incredible capacities.”
In December, Netanyahu said Israel would spend 350 billion shekels ($110 billion) on developing an independent arms industry to reduce dependency on other countries.
In 2016, the US and Israeli governments signed a memorandum of understanding for the 10 years through September 2028 that provides $38 billion in military aid, $33 billion in grants to buy military equipment and $5 billion for missile defense systems.
Israeli defense exports rose 13 percent last year, with major contracts signed for Israeli defense technology including its advanced multi-layered aerial defense systems.
US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Israel supporter and close ally of Trump, said on X that “we need not wait ten years” to begin scaling back military aid to Israel.
“The billions in taxpayer dollars that would be saved by expediting the termination of military aid to Israel will and should be plowed back into the US military,” Graham said. “I will be presenting a proposal to Israel and the Trump administration to dramatically expedite the timetable.”
Uncategorized
In Rare Messages from Iran, Protesters ask West for Help, Speak of ‘Very High’ Death Toll
Protests in Tehran. Photo: Iran Photo from social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law, via i24 News
i24 News – Speaking to Western media from beyond the nationwide internet blackout imposed by the Islamic regime, Iranian protesters said they needed support amid a brutal crackdown.
“We’re standing up for a revolution, but we need help. Snipers have been stationed behind the Tajrish Arg area [a neighborhood in Tehran],” said a protester in Tehran speaking to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity. He added that “We saw hundreds of bodies.”
Another activist in Tehran spoke of witnessing security forces firing live ammunition at protesters resulting in a “very high” number killed.
On Friday, TIME magazine cited a Tehran doctor speaking on condition of anonymity that just six hospitals in the capital recorded at least 217 killed protesters, “most by live ammunition.”
Speaking to Reuters on Saturday, Setare Ghorbani, a French-Iranian national living in the suburbs of Paris, said that she became ill from worry for her friends inside Iran. She read out one of her friends’ last messages before losing contact: “I saw two government agents and they grabbed people, they fought so much, and I don’t know if they died or not.”