Prime Minister Netanyahu’s decision to further escalate the war in Gaza is the equivalent of being stuck in a ditch and deciding that the solution is to dig deeper. Peter Lerner – a 25-year IDF veteran who served as its international spokesperson joined us on Word on the Street Live to unpack the life-or-death stakes of the extremist government’s decisions.

Speaking from a military perspective, Peter offered a candid assessment of Netanyahu’s disastrous approach to this war, from the Cabinet’s plan to reoccupy Gaza to the severe limitations on aid to civilians – and why changing course is a core security imperative.

From there, we turned to Peter for his take on not only how the war has damaged Israel’s credibility on the world stage, but how the Israeli public itself is reckoning with these perceptions.

Jeremy and Ilan report from the ground - in Hebron, near Gaza, and across Israel/Palestine

Featuring:

Sam Berkman, National Director of Communal Relations, J Street

Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO, T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights

Rabbi Josh Weinberg, URJ Vice President for Israel and Reform Zionism; Executive Director of ARZA

Rabbi Deborah Waxman, President and CEO, Reconstructing Judaism

Offir Gutelzon, co-founder, UnXeptable

Rabbi Justus Baird, Senior Vice President, Shalom Hartman Institute of North America

Hadar Susskind, President and CEO, New Jewish Narrative

Rabbi Margo Hughes-Robinson, Executive Director, Partners for Progressive Israel

Elisheva Goldberg, Senior Director of Media and Policy, New Israel Fund

Shanie Reichman, Director of Strategic initiatives and IPF Atid, Israel Policy Forum

There is a shift happening in Israel. Images of suffering in Gaza are breaking through like never before. A growing number of reservists are refusing to serve in Gaza. Protesters are marching in the streets for a war-ending hostage deal.

We’ll be joined by some of those advocates on the ground: Alana Zeitchik, a hostage family member, Max Kresch, a combat soldier refusing to return to serve in Gaza, and Shir Nosatzki, a peace advocate rallying Israelis to call for an end to the war.

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Featuring J Street Policy Fellows Frank Lowenstein and Yael Patir

Featuring Jeremy Ben-Ami, Ilan Goldenberg, Shifra Sered of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, Author Laura E. Adkins, and Editor Talia Benamy

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Iran expert Danny Citrinowicz

J Street Policy Fellow Frank Lowenstein

J Street Director of Government Affairs Hannah Morris