It's Time to Treat the "Two-State Solution" Like Climate Denial
A new litmus test for U.S. politicians—plus famine declared in Gaza, Israel’s Population Relocation Unit, and enemy olive trees in the West Bank
Quick editor’s note for new readers: I aim to send this out every Saturday or Sunday. It opens with a short reflection on what’s been on my mind, followed by a weekly news roundup organized by region—Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, the US, and occasionally elsewhere. The stories come from American, Arab, Israeli, and European outlets, as well as firsthand testimony, with links to the sources provided throughout, along with my own reporting.
Last Sunday, as the Knesset prepared to approve the E1 settlement project—which would split the West Bank in two and, in Smotrich’s words, “bury” the Palestinian state—Netanyahu visited the Ofra settlement, where settler leaders pressed him to declare full sovereignty over “Judea and Samaria.” He told them what they wanted to hear—“We will deepen our hold on the Land of Israel”—but quickly added that some things are better left unsaid: “We are all aware of the problems and the opportunities,” he said, “but it’s better to reduce the talk.”
In other words: Israel has already effectively annexed the West Bank, and saying it out loud only risks drawing unwanted attention. This is the “silent annexation” strategy I traced in my piece for The Baffler, The Annexation of the West Bank is Complete, where I wrote that “the black clouds of Gaza’s hellfire” have obscured “the army of messianic bureaucrats… working furiously and diligently to erase the Green Line that separates Israel from the occupied West Bank.”
“This is how you bring in a million residents,” Smotrich boasted earlier this year. And all of it had been done “quietly and without spectacle.”
For decades, the two-state solution—dependent on nonexistent contiguous Palestinian territory in the West Bank—has been the load-bearing wall of liberal support for Israel: pretending to back Palestinian rights while green-lighting their systematic erasure. Hussein Agha and Robert Malley wrote in The New Yorker last week that “the two-state solution has become a dangerous gimmick… heralded for years for reasons wholly unrelated to its attainment.” It brings to mind Ezra Klein’s comments in June: “I’m not an anti-Zionist… I’m kind of a two-state solution person who doesn’t really believe that’s possible.”
Agha and Malley go on, “The goal is to placate restive domestic opinions and distract attention from the West’s moral cowardice as it shies away from tangible steps to stop Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza.” With regard to European leaders suddenly lining up to recognize a Palestinian state, they wrote, “This is where the story passes beyond demagoguery and deceit and heads for the absurd. The two-state solution is dead, has been for some time prior to October 7th, and has been made all the more illusory in its aftermath. It is not about to be revived by virtue of another collective incantation or recitation of the mantra.”
I’m glad to see this view entering mainstream liberal discourse. On Pod Save the World last week, former Obama National Security Spokesman Tommy Vietor said, “Every liberal you hear talking about the need for a two-state solution are all just sort of ignoring the fact that it is about to be rendered an impossibility because of this settlement expansion, that is enabled by this settler violence, that is also enabled by the fact that Smotrich was basically put in charge of all these settlements even before October, by design.”
As Tommy referenced, the myth of a two-state solution is directly tied to the insistence on seeing settler violence as the work of rogue extremists rather than state policy. Here’s what I wrote earlier this month in my piece, The Violent Settlers Are Just Doing Their Job:
For years, liberal Zionists portrayed the settlement movement as a radical fringe, separate from the Israeli state. But the illusion is long shattered. A disproportionate amount of state funding goes to settler housing and infrastructure in the West Bank. The government openly arms extremist settlers and parades them as pioneers. The military joins their raids, protects their land grabs, and arrests their victims. Courts provide the most violent among them with impunity while fast-tracking demolition orders. Watching the video of soldiers laughing and chatting with a killer as they haul off the wounded relatives of his victim—it’s clearly not rogue behavior, but the system working as intended. And while some Israelis may look down on the settlers, they’ve failed to mount any meaningful political opposition. Many still see them as Israel’s “bulletproof vest,” guarding the homefront from the “dangers” east of the Green Line.
Going forward, we need new litmus tests for politicians who claim to support Palestinian rights. That means voting against every weapons transfer to Israel, opposing any renewal of the U.S.–Israel military aid Memorandum of Understanding when it expires in 2028, and supporting sanctions on every Israeli politician who backs settlement building.
It also means abandoning the two-state solution as a realistic framework. Unless they can explain how they plan to remove 750,000 armed, messianic West Bank settlers who have the full backing of the Israeli state, presenting “two states” as the sensible way out of this catastrophe should be treated like climate denial. Netanyahu, for his own part, prefers a permanent gray zone: Palestinian statehood forever denied, but no formal annexation either—avoiding a one-state reality in which Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank would naturally be considered citizens. Kicking the can down the road is what he does best, and politicians who invoke an impossible future of two states are playing directly into his hand. And to be clear: this isn’t a demand for every politician to lay out a full alternative program. It’s a demand that they stop retreating into fantasy to avoid facing the present: an Israeli regime of permanent occupation, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, genocide, and Jewish supremacy from the river to the sea.
Before the weekly news roundup, here’s the latest on Mohammed Zaher Ibrahim’s case:
Mohammed’s lawyer told me she expects an update on Monday, so it is not too late to call your representative.
If you find my writing valuable, I ask two things:
Here’s this week’s roundup.
Gaza
The Plan
Israel approved “Operation Gideon’s Chariots II,” a plan to send five divisions and 130,000 reservists into Gaza City for a months-long occupation, with 12 brigades at peak deployment and mass relocation of civilians south.
Hayom reported that the Israeli military has created a dedicated Population Relocation Unit to map the population of Gaza City, gather intelligence on it, and force its movement with leaflets, texts, and ultimately, gunfire—the "clearest message to residents that they must evacuate.” (Hayom)
Hostage families warned the assault could lead to the murder of their loved ones, recalling that 41 Israeli soldiers were killed and zero hostages rescued during “Gideon’s Chariots I.” The Israeli government has yet to address how it will handle its growing crisis of reservist refusals. (Haaretz)
Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that unless Hamas disarms and releases hostages, “the gates of hell will soon open.” (INN)
Smotrich told the military’s chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, “Whoever doesn’t evacuate, don’t let them… no water, no electricity, they can die of hunger or surrender.” (Channel 12)
The military warned Netanyahu that demolishing Gaza City “above and below ground” could take more than a year. (Haaretz)
Maariv reported that Netanyahu is pushing forward with the plan in an effort to prevent far-right ministers from bolting. A military source said, “He understands that without the operation, he will not be able to maintain government cohesion and it will fall apart.” (Anadolu)
Benny Gantz presented Netanyahu with an exit ramp by offering to join a temporary unity government to bypass far-right allies and secure a Gaza hostage deal, but Netanyahu has not responded. (France24)
The Execution
Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing Gaza City ahead of Israel’s planned invasion, as the UN warns 1.35 million need shelter, but Israel has blocked all tent and tarp deliveries since March 2. An estimated 3,500 truckloads are required to meet demand. (TOI)
Despite pledging to evacuate Gaza City before invading, Israel is already flattening densely packed neighborhoods with airstrikes and wiping out entire families. (BBC)
“The building was standing for 50 years. Everything we owned was wiped out in a second,” said Hamdi Sweisi, a 38-year-old from Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, after relocating his wife and three children only to learn that their multistory home had been blown up as Israel prepared its invasion. (NYT)
Israeli airstrikes flattened the Al-Munasara displacement camp in central Gaza, leaving some 200 families homeless after tents and belongings were obliterated within minutes of sudden evacuation orders. (Anadolu)
Israel is reportedly weighing a plan to cut water to northern Gaza. (MEM)
Art of the Deal
Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal that includes a 1,000-meter pullback in northern and eastern Gaza, the release of 150 long-term Palestinian prisoners for 10 Israeli hostages, and immediate humanitarian aid, while also making sweeping concessions by dropping demands on the Philadelphi corridor, accepting Israeli “buffer zones,” and allowing the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to stay. Israel has not responded. (Ynet, Drop Site)
Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel will conquer Gaza even if Hamas agrees to a ceasefire and hostage release. (TOI)
Starvation & Death Traps
Israel has starved 289 Palestinians to death in Gaza—up from 258 last week—including 115 children. (Al Jazeera)
On Friday, international monitors officially declared Gaza City and surrounding areas in famine, with at least half a million people facing starvation, acute malnutrition, and death, warning the crisis is “entirely man-made” and will spread south without a cease-fire to allow aid. The UN also said food is “stacked up at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel.”
Israel rejected the findings as fabricated and modern day blood libel. (NYT)
"We haven't eaten any protein for five months,” a mother of five in Gaza City said. “My youngest child is four years old – he doesn't know what fruit and vegetables look or taste like." (BBC)
Haaretz reporters conducted video tours of Gaza hospitals and clinics where they saw skeletal children with yellowing hair, bloated stomachs, and lifeless eyes—one 10-year-old weighing just 37 pounds, a 2-year-old weighing only 9 pounds with teeth fallen out, and a 3-month-old fed starch water after his mother had no milk to breastfeed and formula cost $100 a tin. (Haaretz)
Dr. Mimi Syed, a U.S. emergency physician who has twice worked in Gaza and briefed both the UN Secretary General and Senators on its collapsing health system, was denied entry for a third mission—her team, carrying baby formula for starving infants and equipment to treat a surge of Guillain-Barré Syndrome cases, was turned back in Amman without explanation. (Drop Site)
The Gaza Government Media Office says Israel has allowed just 2,187 aid trucks into Gaza over the past 25 days—15% of the 600 trucks needed daily—while maintaining a nearly six-month ban on 430 essential goods, from meat and dairy to fruits, vegetables, and nutritional supplements. (Drop Site)
The UN says 1,857 Palestinians have been killed in less than three months while trying to access food in Gaza—1,021 near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites and 836 along supply truck routes—with Israeli forces responsible for most of the killings. (Anadolu)
Drop Site reported on parents forced to watch their children die of hunger: “If you go to Zikim, you’ll die. If you stay in your tent, you’ll die. You’ll die from hunger, or you’ll be shot. It’s a trap.” (Drop Site)
A former GHF worker told CBS he was recruited as a truck driver in Israel but sent instead to Gaza, where American subcontractors guarding GHF aid sites fired on Palestinians alongside Israeli soldiers and ordered him to clean up human remains. (CBS)
Two 15-year-old boys, Mohammad and Mahmoud, were shot and gravely injured by Israeli forces while trying to collect flour and food at Gaza aid sites—Mohammad struck in the head by an expanding bullet as he sought food for eight siblings, Mahmoud shot in the abdomen after going a month without bread. (DCIP)
Five Palestinian boys between the ages of 12 and 16 have disappeared this summer while seeking food aid in Gaza’s deadly Zikim border zone. (DCIP)
An airdropped aid package crushed an elderly man in a tent, the 23rd such fatality. (MEE)
Intelligence Operation
The GHF, run by a longtime CIA operative, has introduced a new “reservation system” for food aid: families are photographed, entered into a database, and issued an ID card and a number to collect rations at scheduled times. (X)
Last month for Drop Site, I reported that Jenn Counter—who helped design GHF and now works for the firm running it—has argued that civilian environments in war zones should be exploited for intelligence gathering.
This Week in Hasbara
The right-wing “Free Press” reported that some of Gaza’s starving children have preexisting conditions—like having their skull blown off by an Israeli shell—and spun that into “proof” there’s no starvation crisis:
The story was filed under the “Israel and Antisemitism” section of the website.
On Monday, one of the malnourished children profiled by The Free Press died in a Turkish hospital; his “preexisting condition” was rickets, a disease treated with a diet rich in Vitamin D foods like milk and fatty fish. (In addition to Israel’s blockade, the military has banned fishing in Gaza, shooting fishermen who go out to sea.)
Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry brought 10 U.S. and Israeli influencers into Gaza aid sites this week to echo its propaganda and create starvation-denial content. Among them was the “Mossad Commentary” X account, infamous for posing as tied to Israel’s spy agency and spreading disinformation. (Haaretz, X)
Netanyahu demanded tighter censorship of social media, comparing accusations that Israel is starving Gaza’s children to medieval blood libels and declaring, “We have to do something about the algorithms at the social networks.” (X)
In an interview with The New Yorker, Holocaust historian Norman Goda dismissed Gaza’s 60,000+ death toll as “inflated” without evidence, claimed a photo of a starving boy was “clearly staged,” and insisted Israel, like all “normal countries,” may commit war crimes—but it “just isn’t” committing genocide. (TNY)
Mass Murder
The official Gaza death toll has reached 62,897, with more than 700 people killed by the Israeli military in the past week alone. Experts warn the number will be far higher once those still under the rubble and those who’ve died from indirect causes of the genocide are counted. (Al Jazeera)
A leaked Israeli military intelligence database shows that at least 83% of Palestinians killed in Gaza since October 7 were civilians—contradicting Israel’s claims of a near 1:1 civilian-to-militant ratio and exposing one of the highest civilian tolls in modern warfare. (+972)
The remains of Palestinian journalist Marwa Musallam were recovered in Gaza City 45 days after an airstrike buried her, with rescuers unable to reach her despite her calls for help. (AJ)
Israeli forces shot and killed Palestinian TV cameraman Khaled al-Madhoun while he covered crowds seeking aid in Gaza’s Zikim area, bringing the journalist death toll to 240 since October 7. (Anadolu)
Lydia Polgreen argued that Israel’s assassination of Pulitzer-winning journalist Anas al-Sharif marks an escalation in a war where Israel has erased the line between civilians and combatants and is making sure there is no one left to document its horror. (NYT)
General Annihilation
Gaza’s fishing sector, once the enclave’s second main food source, is “95% destroyed,” with more than 210 fishermen killed since October, all six ports and fish farms bombed, and production down to 2% of pre-war levels; Israel has banned all Palestinian access to the sea, driving fish prices from $24 to $114 a kilo and erasing the livelihoods of 110,000 people. (Drop Site)
A fallen Israeli reservist’s excavator has been returned to service in Gaza, with his brother recalling that his “heroism” was measured by destroying homes so Palestinians “won’t have anywhere to return.” (INN)
Hospital beds in Gaza are running at 300% capacity, with Israel repeatedly blocking WHO trucks carrying ICU beds; famine expert Alex de Waal warned last month that saving thousands of severely malnourished children would require a massive emergency infusion of ICU capabilities, including beds. (CNN)
UNRWA warned that Gaza’s children are entering a third year without schooling, with 88% of schools directly struck and kids “searching for water and food” instead of learning. (MEE)
In Rafah, the Abu Shabab clan—an armed militia backed by Israel and accused of looting aid—has opened a school teaching displaced children a curriculum stripped of Palestinian Authority texts and approved by Israel. (TOI)
Survival in Gaza
A Reuters video documents child amputees in Gaza with few treatment options. (Reuters)
Al Jazeera profiled Gaza bodybuilders training with salvaged equipment in a tent gym in al-Mawasi, where famished athletes who once bench-pressed 100kg now barely lift 30 kg. (Al Jazeera)
Babies in a Hot Car
At a Ranger Base near the Gaza border, soldiers were left without air conditioning during last week’s record-breaking heat wave, and complained that the food was giving them diarrhea. Parents of the soldiers organized a meeting with commanders, leading to most of the soldiers being sent home for a long weekend. (ynet)
An Israeli army officer likened soldiers in a hot tank to leaving “babies in a closed car.” (Hayom)
Kidnapping Attempt
At least 18 Hamas fighters tried to storm an Israeli encampment in Khan Younis on Wednesday, wounding three soldiers before troops killed 10 gunmen, in what the military called a rare large-scale raid. (TOI)
The Hostages
As hundreds of thousands of Israelis rallied for a hostage deal, captive Matan Zangauker urged his friends in a new video to “go out and make noise as only you know how,” saying he hoped they would be reunited “soon.” (JNS)
Israel’s hostage coordinator Gal Hirsch warned far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir that his threats and prison stunts were endangering Israeli captives in Gaza, after freed hostages testified that such rhetoric often led to harsher treatment. (New Arab)
Trump claimed that “probably fewer than 20” Israeli hostages are still alive in Gaza, angering families of the captives. (JPost)
West Bank (and beyond)
The Annexation
Israel gave final approval for building 3,400+ settler homes in the E1 area, a project that would sever East Jerusalem from the West Bank, cut off Palestinian communities in the northern West Bank from those in the south, and, in Bezalel Smotrich’s words, “erase the Palestinian state from the table” with “another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea.” (WaPo)
Twenty-one countries—including Britain, France, Canada, and Japan—condemned the plan, calling it “unacceptable” and warning that it “brings no benefits to the Israeli people,” but offered no consequences if Israel goes forward. (Le Monde)
Israel’s Foreign Ministry responded by saying that calls to limit settler expansion are “racist.” (Haaretz)
Ambassador Mike Huckabee endorsed the new construction, saying, “It would be very strange to say that others can live in this area but Israelis cannot.” (It is against international law.) (INN)
Israel reclassified 63 Palestinian archaeological sites in the West Bank as “Israeli heritage sites,” handing control to the Israeli Civil Administration and barring Palestinian access. (Anadolu)
Israel is advancing the antiquities bill to transfer oversight of West Bank archaeology from the military’s Civil Administration to the Israel Antiquities Authority, part of its broader effort to accelerate land theft by dismantling the military occupation and applying Israeli civilian law to the West Bank. Many Israeli archaeologists are now speaking out against the law, warning that it could damage international ties and lead to boycotts. As I wrote last year in The Drift, Israel's archaeology academy is a microcosm of the broader populace: belatedly opposing injustice not on moral grounds, but because its own self-interest is at risk. (TOI)
The Israeli army has barred Palestinians from using Route 367, a key road that villagers rely on to reach markets, hospitals, and other parts of the West Bank, while settlers drive freely. (Haaretz)
Settlers set up trailers in Hebron’s Tel Rumeida on land the 1997 Hebron Agreement placed under Palestinian control, but which later Israeli military maps mysteriously reclassified as Israeli-controlled, complete with an iron gate blocking access to a nearby girls’ school. (Haaretz)
Palestinians in Kafr Aqab, an East Jerusalem neighborhood cut off by Israel’s separation barrier, face checkpoint waits of up to three hours to reach hospitals, leaving cancer patients and transplant recipients stranded en route to emergency care. (Haaretz)
This Week in Pogroms
Biden’s deputy national security advisor Jon Finer argued that the explosion of settler and soldier violence in the West Bank will only become a crisis if Palestinians begin to fight back, "igniting a second front that is far closer to Israeli population centers and much harder to contain.” (Atlantic)
Settlers backed by Israeli soldiers continue to assault the residents of Masafer Yatta daily:
On Thursday, settlers attacked Palestinians plowing land in the Aghziwah area near Susya, Masafer Yatta, injuring three—including an elderly man with head wounds who was hospitalized—while also smashing three vehicles and a tractor. In a separate assault, settlers beat a shepherd and his flock, killing two sheep. (SABA)
The BBC witnessed dozens of masked settlers storm down from an illegal outpost near Turmus Aya, torching Palestinian olive groves, vehicles, and homes as the army blocked access roads and prevented emergency crews from reaching the scene. (BBC)
Israeli forces detained Palestinian Culture Minister Imad Hamdan and his delegation in Kafr Ni’ma after settlers beat his staff, seized their phones and IDs, and blocked their entry to a youth village. (Anadolu)
Israeli forces arrested Palestinian journalist Muath Amarna—who lost an eye in 2019 while covering clashes—while he was traveling between Bethlehem and Hebron, and separately injured a man and fired on homes during a raid in Qusra. (MEM)
A video from east of Sa’ir, where water is scarce due to Israel’s weaponization of natural resources, shows settlers plunging a goat into a Palestinian community well and a settler climbing out of it, raising fears the water has been deliberately contaminated (MEE):
On Wednesday, settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque under army guard for prayers, while others bulldozed land in Turmusaya, stole 13 cows in Nablus, and beat the family of a prisoner in Silwan. (New Arab)
Gideon Levy reported on the coordinated night raids of July 31, in which masked settlers stormed three Palestinian communities near Ramallah at 2:15 a.m., torching cars with accelerants that caused explosions when residents tried to douse the flames, killing 40-year-old American citizen Khamis Ayyad of Silwad from smoke inhalation. Soldiers arrived an hour later and fired tear gas at Palestinians still battling the fires, while the attackers escaped in getaway cars, leaving behind graffiti that read “Shooting revenge Jew-Nazis.” (Haaretz)
Hostage Situation
Israel is holding Jenin refugee camp's 20K residents hostage, threatening to maintain its deadly siege until UNRWA's offices are shut down. (MEE)
After a shooting near the illegal Adei Ad outpost lightly injured a settler, the Israeli army imposed a curfew on the West Bank village of al-Mughayyir, uprooted 3,100 olive trees—some decades old—raided homes, confiscated cars, and destroyed property. Central Command chief Avi Bluth offered a textbook definition of collective punishment, saying such “shaping actions" are designed "to deter everyone, not only this village but every village that tries to raise a hand against any of the residents.” (Haaretz)
A commander later declared that the trees were “hiding enemy movements” and their removal was “required immediately to prevent danger to life.” (ynet)
Abbas Staying Busy
PA President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree forming a committee to draft an interim constitution “to lay the foundations for the establishment of the State of Palestine,” as France, the UK, Canada, and Australia prepare to recognize Palestinian statehood at the UN next month. (JNS)
Lebanon has begun disarming Palestinian factions in its refugee camps, in a campaign agreed to by Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun and PA President Mahmoud Abbas that aims to bring all arms under state control after decades of camp autonomy. (Al Jazeera)
Israel
New Budget
The Israeli government approved a $9 billion wartime budget increase, including $473 million in humanitarian aid for Gaza. Last week, Finance Minister Smotrich said that funding for “humanitarian aid” would not be used for humanitarian purposes, but to achieve total victory. (TOI)
The Netanyahus
Qatar secretly paid $10 million to senior Israeli officials through a PR firm run by Netanyahu ally Yisrael Einhorn, who was hired to boost Doha’s image ahead of the 2022 World Cup and continued his pro-Qatar campaign well after October 7. (TOI)
Right-wing political leader Avigdor Liberman accused Netanyahu of having “nurtured Hamas for years,” saying he repeatedly blocked targeted strikes against its leaders, funneled Qatar’s cash to the group, and ignored warnings of an imminent attack in an effort to undermine the Palestinian Authority. (JPost)
Torture Camps
A new report from Palestinian prisoners’ rights groups details testimonies from Gaza detainees held in Israel’s underground “Rakevet” section of Ramla Prison and the “Sde Teiman” military camp, where lawyers found prisoners weeping, terrorized, and threatened into lying. Detainees described beatings, finger-breaking, and “disco” interrogations—severe beatings while suspended in stress positions—along with near-total isolation. (Drop Site)
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir filmed himself in a prison pointing to photos of Gaza’s destruction hung on the walls for Palestinian detainees, boasting, “This is what they see in the morning… so they know that the Israeli people are not to be underestimated.” (MEE)
Shining Light of Democracy
Israel fired 15 Air Force officers, including a brigadier general, after they signed a petition demanding an end to the Gaza war and the release of hostages, with 17 more suspended unless they withdrew their names. (New Arab)
Ultra-Orthodox Israelis, long exempt from conscription, are now being drafted for the Gaza war, igniting furious clashes in Jerusalem streets. (NYT)
Greater Israel
Several settler families crossed into Syria to lay a cornerstone for a new outpost, before the Israeli military escorted them back. Organizers framed it as both a security buffer and a biblical return to the Bashan, boasting that soldiers “greeted us warmly” and praised their efforts. (INN)
Diplomacy
Israel and Australia are locked in a spiraling diplomatic feud after Canberra barred far-right MK Simcha Rothman, prompting Israel to expel diplomats and Netanyahu to lash out at PM Anthony Albanese as “a weak politician.” (TOI)
US
Not To Be Outdone
Trump called Netanyahu a “war hero” and claimed the title for himself for ordering U.S. bombers to strike Iran’s nuclear sites. He also demanded Netanyahu’s corruption trial be canceled and boasted he had settled seven big wars, “including one nobody knows about.” (TOI)
The State Department fired its top press officer for Israeli-Palestinian affairs, Shahed Ghoreishi, after he pushed to include lines opposing the forced displacement of Palestinians and mourning slain journalists in Gaza. (WaPo)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Defense Intelligence Agency chief Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse after his assessment found U.S. strikes only briefly set back Iran’s nuclear program, contradicting Trump’s claim it was “obliterated.” (AP)
A U.S. House committee launched a probe into the National Education Association, accusing the nation’s largest teachers’ union of spreading antisemitism after it voted to boycott ADL materials. (INN)
The U.S. sanctioned four International Criminal Court judges and prosecutors—including French judge Nicolas Guillou and Canadian judge Kimberly Prost—for pursuing cases against Americans and Israelis. (Le Monde)
Biden Diplomacy
Biden State Dep’t spokesman Matthew Miller revealed that the Biden administration repeatedly considered publicly blaming Netanyahu for obstructing Gaza ceasefire and hostage deals, but held back out of fear Hamas would harden its stance if it sensed U.S.-Israel divisions. Miller also detailed how Netanyahu often added last-minute conditions that sabotaged near-agreements. (TOI)
Public Opinion vs. The Establishment
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds 58% of Americans support UN recognition of Palestine and 59% say Israel’s Gaza offensive is excessive, while 65% want the US to help prevent starvation in Gaza. (TOI)
DNC chair Ken Martin is doubling down on the party’s old pro-Israel line—pressuring delegates to water down ceasefire resolutions, backing a competing measure crafted with Democratic Majority for Israel, and keeping pro-Palestine voices like Zohran Mamdani at arm’s length. (Nation)
Perry Bacon argues that the Democratic establishment’s refusal to endorse Mamdani despite his landslide New York mayoral primary win exposes both its fear of progressive power and its reliance on pro-Israel donors. (TNR)
Hysteria
Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score, compared Gaza to the Holocaust during a Hudson Valley workshop, drawing accusations of antisemitism and prompting an Israeli military veteran in the room to liken her own reaction to “the scream of my ancestors as they were shut into the gas chambers.” (TOI)
ADL Chief Jonathan Greenblatt lied on national television, saying Zohran Mamdani had “visited churches and mosques” but “not a single synagogue.” (Forward)
Accountability
Simone Zimmerman argues that a new wave of liberal Zionist critiques of Israel’s starvation campaign in Gaza rings hollow without accountability. (Jewish Currents)
Thanks for reading. As always, I welcome your thoughts, questions, etc. in the comments.
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I know I often talk about how upsetting all of this is, but the other thing I notice every time I read one of your round ups is the pace of the atrocities. The pace is relentless. It's like a firehouse of horrible news. The fact you get through all of it and summarize it to the cogent points is a small miracle. But I'm sick to my stomach, as usual, after reading.
I'm now favoring a ONE STATE SOLUTION. PALESTINE and Palestinians should not have to be near These MONSTERS.
BANISH ISRAEL.