President Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon to begin at 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, after holding separate calls with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the day.

“These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE,” the president wrote on Truth Social. He said he had directed Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, “to work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a Lasting PEACE.”

Netanyahu quickly convened his Security Cabinet to discuss the ceasefire as Trump announced it, according to Israeli reports, angering ministers who were informed through the media without having held a vote on it.

Trump added in a second post that he will be inviting Aoun and Netanyahu to the White House for “meaningful talks.”

Netanyahu said in a statement that he had agreed to the ceasefire “to try and advance the agreement we began discussing during the meeting of ambassadors in Washington” on Tuesday, which were the highest-level discussions between Jerusalem and Beirut in over 30 years.

He said that Hezbollah had demanded Israel withdraw from all of Lebanese territory and wanted a ceasefire based on the “quiet for quiet” model, neither of which Israel agreed to. Instead, Netanyahu said the IDF will remain in Lebanon throughout the ceasefire in a “reinforced security buffer zone” of 10 km, broader than the five outposts the IDF maintained in Lebanon during the last ceasefire in November 2024.

“That is where we are and we are not leaving. This allows us, first and foremost, to block the danger of an invasion into our communities, and secondly, it allows us to prevent direct anti-tank fire into the communities,” the prime minister said.

In his posts, Trump did not reference Hezbollah, which had said prior to talks that it would not abide by any negotiated agreement though the text of the agreement released by the State Department said the Lebanese government will “take meaningful steps to prevent Hezbollah and all other rogue non-state armed groups in the territory of Lebanon from carrying out any attacks, operations, or hostile activities against Israeli targets.”

The agreement is a “gesture of goodwill” on Israel’s part “intended to enable good-faith negotiations” toward a permanent agreement, the text states, which “may be extended by mutual agreement” if Lebanon “effectively demonstrates its ability to assert its sovereignty” and prevents Hezbollah from attacking Israel.

The Lebanese government has agreed several times before, including in its November 2024 ceasefire agreement with Israel, to disarm Hezbollah so that it could no longer threaten or strike Israel, but Hezbollah maintains military capabilities and has continued to fire rockets and drones into the country.

A poll by the Israel Democracy Institute from late last week found 80% of Jewish Israelis think Israel should continue its military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, even if it causes friction with the U.S.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will convene the ambassadors from Israel and Lebanon in Washington on Tuesday for the highest-level direct talks between the countries in over 30 years.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh will represent their countries, with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and State Department Counselor Michael Needham also taking part in the meeting.

The negotiations are meant to focus on how Israel and Lebanon can work together to disarm Hezbollah and make peace between the countries.

A State Department official said the talks are “a direct result of Hezbollah’s reckless actions,” and “will scope the ongoing dialog about how to ensure the long-term security of Israel’s northern border and to support the Government of Lebanon’s determination to reclaim full sovereignty over its territory and political life.”

“Israel is at war with Hezbollah, not Lebanon, so there is no reason the two neighbors should not be talking,” the State Department official said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam canceled a planned visit to the U.S. this week to monitor the situation from Beirut and “safeguard the security of the Lebanese people and preserve national unit,” he wrote on X. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the talks last week, marking a shift in his position from earlier in the Lebanon campaign that began after Hezbollah joined Iran in attacking Israel in late February. Netanyahu said over the weekend that he had agreed to the talks because they would not only be about a ceasefire, but about disarming Hezbollah and working toward peace with Lebanon. President Donald Trump said at the time that he asked Israel to “low-key a bit” the strikes in Lebanon. 

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi posted on X that the direct talks “in practice reinforced the separation between the Lebanese file and the Iranian track. … The Lebanese state alone holds the authority to negotiate on behalf of Lebanon.” 

The talks are set to take place as Hezbollah continues to launch rockets and drone attacks at northern Israel on a daily basis and the IDF continues to target Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The IDF said it struck about 150 Hezbollah targets on Monday, and it continues its ground operations in the Iran-backed terrorist organization’s stronghold of Bint Jbeil. 

The IDF cleared for publication on Tuesday the name of Sgt.-Maj. Ayal Uriel Bianco, who was killed in battle in Lebanon.

Netanyahu visited IDF troops in Lebanon over the weekend, and praised them on Monday for “pushing the enemy away from the border” and creating “a solid, deeper security zone that both prevents the danger of invasion and distances the anti-tank missile threat.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a recent cable encouraged American diplomats to work with local Israeli embassies on messaging efforts to encourage foreign governments to collaborate with the U.S. in its war against Iran, ABC News reported on Monday.

“At post’s discretion, advocacy efforts should be coordinated with Israeli diplomatic counterparts,” a leaked diplomatic cable stated, according to ABC.

In the cable titled “Elevated Concern of [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] Activity,” Rubio noted that there is an “elevated risk of attack” from Iran, and told diplomats to encourage the governments where they were posted to “move expeditiously to diminish the capabilities of Iran and Iran-aligned terrorist groups from attacking our respective nations and citizens.”

“We assess that the Iranian regime is more sensitive to collective action than unilateral action, and that joint pressure is more likely to compel behavior change by the regime than unilateral actions alone,” the cable reportedly stated. “We must act while international attention is focused now to end the Iranian campaign of terror in the Middle East and globally. Do not allow this critical movement to pass.”

The report comes as President Donald Trump pushes for other countries to join U.S. efforts to prevent Iran from closing the Strait of Hormuz, the point through which oil can be transported out of the Gulf to the open sea.

Rubio also directed diplomats in countries that have not declared the IRGC and Hezbollah to be terrorist organizations to relay the message that they should do so “swiftly,” because “such a designation will intensify the pressure on the Iranian regime and limit its ability to sponsor terror activities across the globe that jeopardizes the safety and security of your populations.” 

The cable reportedly noted that the IRGC plans and carries out terrorist attacks on foreign soil and directs espionage and influence operations, which are “intentional acts designed to intimidate populations and inflict harm on your civilians.” 

On Monday, the Trump administration moved to designate the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood (SMB) as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entity and announced plans to impose a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation on March 16.

“The Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood uses unrestrained violence against civilians to undermine efforts to resolve the conflict in Sudan and advance its violent Islamist ideology,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a press release. “The United States will use all available tools to deprive the Iranian regime and Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism.”

The SMB is composed of the Sudanese Islamic Movement and its armed wing, the al-Baraa Bin Malik Brigade (BBMB). The Muslim Brotherhood has maintained a significant presence in Sudan since the 1940s and has played a role in the country’s ongoing civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) — backed by Iran, Russia, Egypt and Turkey — and the Rapid Support Forces, which have reportedly received support from the United Arab Emirates.

Experts have previously told Jewish Insider that the SAF is heavily influenced by the SMB, working alongside several Islamist militias and receiving attack drones from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has been designated as a terrorist organization by both the U.S. and the European Union. The SMB has contributed roughly 20,000 fighters to the conflict, with many receiving “training and other support” from the IRGC, according to the State Department. 

An alleged Muslim Brotherhood leader in the Sudanese Armed Forces was also caught on video last week asserting that the group is ready to defend Iran amid the ongoing conflict between Tehran and the U.S. and Israel. The leader suggested that the group would send battalions to fight alongside Iran, according to Sky News Arabia. 

“As the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, the Iranian regime has financed and directed malign activities globally through its IRGC,” Rubio said in the statement, adding that the SMB has also “conducted mass executions of civilians.”

The designation marks the Trump administration’s latest crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood affiliates and represents a notable policy step into the Sudan conflict. In January, the administration designated three Muslim Brotherhood branches in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan as SDGT entities, with the State Department citing their provision of “material support to Hamas.”

A who’s who of the world’s major political leaders, past and present, are descending on Munich for the annual Munich Security Conference. After last year’s forum, in which Vice President JD Vance, who was leading the U.S. delegation, took an abrasive tone against Europe in his keynote address that rankled some attendees, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead this year’s delegation.

Unlike last year, when the Israel-Hamas war featured prominently on the agenda, this year’s MSC schedule has relatively little time dedicated to talking about the conflict, with just two sessions expected to touch on Gaza. And while last year’s attendee list included a number of Israelis, including President Isaac Herzog and Defense Minister Israel Katz, there are no current Israeli officials slated to speak. (Former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will join one of the panels on Gaza reconstruction.)

Also absent this year is a Qatari presence. ​​Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who spoke last year about de-escalating tensions in the Middle East, is not on this year’s schedule, nor are any other Qatari officials.

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) — back this year after skipping the 2025 MSC to travel to the U.S.-Mexico border — and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) will lead a bipartisan congressional delegation that includes Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mark Warner (D-VA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Steve Daines (R-MT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Peter Welch (D-VT), Andy Kim (D-NJ) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI). 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is slated to speak on two panels today, one on the “rise of populism,” and another on the “future of U.S. foreign policy,” the latter in conversation with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Matthew Whitaker, the U.S.’ representative to NATO. Matt Duss, a former foreign policy advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) who has been critical of the U.S.-Israel relationship and is now advising the New York Democrat, said that she will use her perch in Munich to give the “working-class perspective” on the intersection of domestic politics and foreign policy.

AOC isn’t the only millennial member of Congress to be addressing the MSC this year. Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), the first Iranian American Democrat elected to Congress, will be speaking on Sunday on a panel titled “Under Reconstruction: A World Order for the Next Generation.”

The conference kicks off this afternoon with a sit-down with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, followed by a panel discussion on “The International Order Between Reform and Destruction,” which will feature U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Michael Waltz, the EU’s Kaja Kallas, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Arnulfo Sánchez Suárez.

A town hall session focused on Gaza rebuilding efforts will take place later this afternoon. Speakers include Nickolay Mladenov, the Bulgarian diplomat serving as the head of the Gaza Board of Peace, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Livni and Palestinian Authority Foreign Affairs Minister Varsen Aghabekian. Concurrent to that panel is a session focused on maritime security, with Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi, whose country has been used by the Iran-backed Houthis as a launching pad for attacks on ships transiting through the Gulf, set to speak.

Later in the day, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour will moderate back-to-back sessions on the future of Iran: the first with exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi and British-Iranian actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi; and the second with Graham, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Karim Sadjadpour, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and Manal Radwan, a senior advisor in Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry.

Rubio will kick off Saturday’s sessions with a mainstage conversation with MSC Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger, followed by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Also on Saturday  morning, former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and the International Committee for the Red Cross’ Mirjana Spoljaric Egger will speak on a panel about peace deals.

Later in the day, Elbridge Colby, the Defense Department’s under secretary of war for policy will speak in conversation with Foreign Policy’s Ravi Agrawal before joining a larger panel focused on security in the Indo-Pacific.

The Middle East will take center stage again on Saturday evening, during a session titled “Building on Momentum in the Middle East: From Promise to Progress?” that will feature another appearance by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, joined by Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide and Sigrid Kaag, who now sits on the executive board of the Board of Peace.

Prince Faisal will also speak alongside U.K. Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper and White House senior advisor Massad Boulos in a session Saturday focused on ending the war in Sudan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu distanced himself on Thursday from the Knesset’s approval of two bills to extend Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank, after President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke out against annexation.

The Knesset approved two settlement annexation bills brought by right-wing members of the opposition in preliminary votes on Wednesday, despite the coalition whipping votes against them. 

The bill to annex the entire West Bank, proposed by Avi Maoz, the sole lawmaker from the anti-LGBT Noam party that quit the coalition earlier this year, received 25 votes — most of which were from Netanyahu’s coalition — with 24 voting against it. 

The other bill, which would have the Jerusalem suburb of Maaleh Adumim be considered part of sovereign Israel, was proposed by former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and his Yisrael Beiteinu party and passed the early vote with 32 in favor — with only one from the coalition — and nine opposed. The bills still have to go through committee meetings and three plenary votes to become law.

Trump voiced opposition to annexation efforts in an interview with Time magazine published Thursday, but conducted before the Knesset vote, and said they could threaten U.S. support for Israel. 

Annexation “won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries,” Trump said, “and you can’t do that now. We’ve had great Arab support. … It will not happen. Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened.”

Though the first Trump administration’s 2020 peace plan would have allowed Israel to annex parts of the West Bank, Netanyahu committed later that year to refrain from such a move in exchange for entering the Abraham Accords with the United Arab Emirates.

Vice President JD Vance was asked about the vote on his way onto Air Force Two departing Israel on Thursday, and said that he was “confused” and found the vote “weird.” He said he asked about the vote and was told it was symbolic.

“If it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it,” he said. “The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel; that will continue to be our policy and if people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that, but we certainly weren’t happy about it.”

Rubio, who landed in Israel on Thursday, said the night before that the Knesset vote was “counterproductive,” while acknowledging that  Israel is “a democracy, they’re going to have their votes. People are going to take these positions.”

Netanyahu attempted to repair the damage of the votes on Thursday morning, with a statement from his office calling them “a deliberate political provocation by the opposition to sow discord during Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Israel. The two bills were sponsored by opposition members of the Knesset.”

According to the statement, “the Likud party and the religious parties (the principal coalition members) did not vote for these bills, except for one disgruntled Likud member who was recently fired from the chairmanship of a Knesset committee. Without Likud support these bills are unlikely to go anywhere.”

Maoz’s bill got support from six coalition lawmakers from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party and seven from National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party. One Religious Zionist Party MK voted for Liberman’s legislation.

The one Likud lawmaker who supported Maoz’s bill was Yuli Edelstein, who was removed from the prestigious post of chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee earlier this year due to his refusal to usher in legislation that would continue the broad exemption from IDF service for Haredim. Edelstein argued in a post on X: “If my only sin was standing with the Land of Israel and voting for applying sovereignty in Judea and Samaria” — the Biblical name for the West Bank — “then I am proud of it.” 

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter assisted in Netanyahu’s damage control efforts, calling Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to clarify the situation. 

Leiter assured Graham “that this vote was not intended to be a slight to the U.S. and the position of the Prime Minister is that the U.S. is Israel’s most important and valuable ally and partner, and there will be no major changes without consulting and cooperating with the U.S.,” the South Carolina senator wrote on X.

“As with all legislative bodies and democracies, there are things you can control and things you cannot,” Graham added. “[Leiter] vigorously stressed no offense was meant and reinforced that no major decisions will be made by Israel without cooperation and coordination with the U.S.”

Separately, coalition chairman Ophir Katz, the Likud lawmaker responsible for whipping votes, said on Thursday that Netanyahu “clearly instructed me last night that the coalition must not vote for the bills on the matter of sovereignty. There was coalition discipline on the matter. Since there were MKs who acted against the prime minister’s instructions, the bills passed. Following that, the prime minister instructed me not to advance these bills until further notice.”

Katz punished Edelstein by removing him from the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee entirely, but consequences for the coalition members from other parties have yet to be announced.

Edelstein said that “every such removal is a medal of honor for me. Anyone who thinks this deters me is making a big mistake.”

In 2010, during a visit by then-Vice President Joe Biden to Israel, Israel’s Interior Ministry announced, without first consulting Netanyahu, that it had approved 1,600 housing units in a northern Jerusalem neighborhood that the Obama administration and most of the international community considered to be a settlement. The incident sparked a diplomatic row between the countries.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to Israel on Thursday, becoming the latest senior official dispatched to the country by President Donald Trump as the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas extends into its second week. 

Rubio joins several other administration officials and representatives who have made the journey to Israel this past week, on the heels of the signing of the first phase of Trump’s peace proposal, including Vice President JD Vance, White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and advisor Jared Kushner.

The swift mobilization of U.S. officials comes as the Trump administration aims to lay the groundwork for the second phase of the deal and works to keep Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from reigniting fighting in the Gaza Strip and fracturing a delicate peace deal, amid Hamas’ repeated violations of the agreement. 

Vance, in his meeting with Netanyahu on Wednesday, emphasized that Israel is not a “vassal state” that needs to be told what to do. 

The string of high-level visits is “not about monitoring in the sense of, you know, monitoring a toddler,” Vance told reporters alongside Netanyahu. “It’s about monitoring in the sense that there’s a lot of work.”

Meanwhile, ahead of his own visit to Israel, Rubio warned Israeli leaders that the West Bank annexation vote that passed the Knesset this week — championed by far-right MK Avi Moaz — threatened to derail the Trump-orchestrated ceasefire deal.

Chuck Freilich, an associate professor of political science at Columbia University, told Jewish Insider he sees it as a form of U.S. oversight, or “Bibi-sitting,” something he says is “long-standing tradition” in the U.S.-Israel relationship.

“From the U.S. perspective, you want to go over and reassure Israel its legitimate security concerns are not in jeopardy by continuing to adhere to the ceasefire,” said Jonathan Ruhe, a fellow for American strategy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America. “I imagine that Rubio will be there to more echo and amplify the messages that have already been laid out, assuming the facts on the ground don’t change between now and then.”

While disagreements between the U.S. and Israel are not unusual, the Biden administration’s efforts to oppose Netanyahu’s preferred policies often led to accusations of insufficient U.S. support for the Jewish state.  

During the Biden administration, senior officials, including Secretary of State Tony Blinken, were dispatched to the region to keep Israel from conducting military operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. At the time, Biden faced criticism from some in the pro-Israel world for restraining Netanyahu’s government from doing what they saw to be in Israel’s best interest during the war. 

Given Trump’s high popularity in Israel in the immediate aftermath of the hostage-release deal, that blowback is not happening this time around. Freilich says the Trump administration’s exertion of restraint on Netanyahu from going after Hamas to uphold the ceasefire is different. 

“Unlike with Biden, I don’t think there is a war to be won now that the U.S. is blocking,” said Freilich. “Israel has already done most of what it can do. The real problem is with phase two, how to dismantle and disarm Hamas and remove it as the governing body in Gaza. The administration is working on it intensively, including in all of these visits.”

The continued engagement is also a way for the Trump administration to provide Netanyahu cover from the right-wing coalition of his government, which had been more reluctant to end the fighting and make a hostage deal before the complete elimination of Hamas. The Trump administration may see holding them at bay as another way to keep the ceasefire intact.

David May, a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Rubio will be a worthy asset alongside Witkoff and Kushner, stating that his presence could help Israel get Hamas to “uphold a ceasefire that would effectively dismantle the terrorist group.” 

“Dispatching Secretary of State Marco Rubio is a very positive development,” May told JI. “Rubio possesses immense knowledge of the issues and the actors with his decades of experience operating in U.S. foreign policy.”

This will be Rubio’s fourth visit to Israel since taking office in January. The secretary of state has a plethora of diplomatic experience with the Jewish state and has long expressed steadfast support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, dating back to his time in the U.S. Senate. 

A bipartisan group of 40 House members is urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to maintain the U.S. ban on exporting advanced F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, amid ongoing reports that the U.S. and Turkey are negotiating to allow the sale of the jets.

“We strongly urge the Administration to review the facts and reject Turkey’s attempt to rewrite the history of its violation of U.S. law and national security policy,” the lawmakers said in a letter to Rubio on Thursday.

The group highlighted that President Donald Trump, during his first term, signed the law that bans the sale of the F-35s to Turkey in light of its purchase of an S-400 missile defense system from Russia.

“Nearly a decade later, Turkey still possesses S-400 systems and has shown no willingness to comply with U.S. law. This behavior cannot be rewarded,” the letter reads. “Lifting sanctions or allowing Turkey back into the F-35 program without first removing its S-400s would jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems; expose U.S. military secrets to Russian intelligence; undermine our defense industrial base and allied confidence in purchasing future U.S. platforms; and disrupt development of the next-generation fighter jet recently announced by the Administration.”

The lawmakers emphasized that U.S. policy on the issue has been consistent across administrations and parties.

They said that the U.S. must “uphold U.S. law, maintain CAATSA sanctions, and protect American defense and intelligence assets” and “continue to hold allies and adversaries alike accountable when their actions threaten U.S. interests.”

The letter was led by Reps. Chris Pappas (D-NH), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Dina Titus (D-NV) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), who lead the Congressional Hellenic Caucus.

The letter is supported by the American Jewish Committee, Christians United for Israel Action Fund and FDD Action as well as the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, the American Hellenic Institute, American Friends of Kurdistan, Armenian National Committee of America, Coordinated Effort of Hellenes, the Hellenic American Leadership Council, Middle East Forum and the International Coordinating Committee Justice for Cyprus.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) is circulating a letter to President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio among House lawmakers calling for the United States to recognize a Palestinian state.

Khanna, a prominent progressive voice in the House with aspirations for higher office, has become increasingly vocal in recent weeks about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and in his criticism of the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC.

“We are writing to request that the United States officially recognize a Palestinian state, as this tragic moment has highlighted for the world the long overdue need to recognize Palestinian self-determination,” a draft version of the letter obtained by Jewish Insider reads. “Just as the lives of Palestinians must be immediately protected, so too must their rights as a people and nation urgently be acknowledged and upheld.”

The letter had nine co-signatories, in addition to Khanna, as of Thursday evening.

The signatories said they welcome French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state, and urged other governments to do the same. The U.K. and Canada said this week that they intend to do so as well, given certain conditions.

“It has long been acknowledged by much of the international community and previous U.S. administrations of both major political parties that a Palestinian state recognized as a full and equal member of the community of nations is necessary to fulfill the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people and ensure the state of Israel’s survival as the democratic homeland of the Jewish people,” the letter continues.

U.S. policy has long opposed the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state outside of a negotiated two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians.

“A viable Palestinian state will need to fully recognize Israel and adopt a framework to guarantee Israel’s security, including the disarmament of and relinquishing of power by Hamas in order to be broadly embraced by the community of nations,” the letter continues. “We will need to work closely with the Palestinian people, the Palestinian Authority, our Arab allies, and Israel to make this feasible.”

The letter argues that “recognizing Palestinian statehood and obligating Palestinian leaders to abide by the international law binding on states and their governments will make that far more achievable and sustainable than decades of statelessness and repression have.”

The letter has been co-signed by Reps. Greg Casar (D-TX), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Veronica Escobar (D-TX), Maxwell Frost (D-FL), Al Green (D-TX), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) — all prominent progressive lawmakers in the House — since opening on Tuesday evening.

In a statement to JI, Khanna said, “This is the moment for the United States to officially recognize a Palestinian state. All 22 states in the Arab League this week called for a non Hamas Palestinian state that recognizes Israel.”

He said that his office had begun outreach on the issue this week, but did not plan to send the letter until the United Nations General Assembly in September, when France and others said they plan to formally recognize a Palestinian state. He described the response from his fellow lawmakers as “overwhelming.”

“It’s disappointing someone would leak the letter thinking it would sabotage the effort,” Khanna continued. “But you cannot sabotage an idea whose time has come.”

Khanna said in a memo to colleagues about the letter, “Recognition of Palestinian statehood — alongside continued efforts to secure Israel’s safety and guarantee its future as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people — is essential to achieving peace.”

He continued, “As the devastating toll of the war in Gaza continues to mount, this tragic moment has underscored the urgent need to acknowledge Palestinian self-determination and take meaningful steps toward a just and lasting resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Previously, a resolution supporting Palestinian statehood, introduced in the House by Green in December 2023, received five co-sponsors — Watson Coleman, Frost, Doggett, Escobar and Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN).

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday that the U.S. would sanction Francesca Albanese, the widely criticized United Nations special rapporteur for Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

“Today I am imposing sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt [International Criminal Court] action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives,” Rubio said in a statement. “Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated. We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense.”

She is being sanctioned under the Trump administration’s executive order targeting the International Criminal Court. 

Members of Congress from both parties, as well as officials in both the Trump and Biden administrations, have condemned Albanese for her bias against Israel, downplaying and justifying the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, denying Israel’s right to defend itself and utilizing antisemitic rhetoric, among other issues, calling repeatedly calling for her to be dismissed. The French and German governments have also condemned the U.N. official.

A group of House members issued another call for her dismissal as recently as last month.

“The United States will continue to take whatever actions we deem necessary to respond to lawfare and protect our sovereignty and that of our allies,” Rubio continued.

The sanctions would bar Albanese from entering the U.S., where she has conducted speaking tours, and freeze any assets she, or any of her family members, have in the U.S.

“As chair of the DOJ Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, I applaud Secretary Rubio’s decision to impose sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese,” Leo Terrell, a senior counsel at the Justice Department, told Jewish Insider. “In May, I wrote a public letter calling for her removal due to her long and troubling record of antisemitic rhetoric. This long-overdue step sends a clear message: such hatred will not be tolerated.“

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, praised Rubio for the decision. 

“Her relentless and biased campaign against Israel and the United States has long crossed the line from human rights advocacy into political warfare,” Danon said. “Albanese has consistently debased the credibility of the UN by promoting false, dangerous narratives that are detached from reality.”

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), who has led multiple communiques from Congress calling for Albanese to be fired and recently said she has “blood on her hands,” told JI, “Today’s sanctions are …  an important step in response to Ms. Albanese’s regular antisemitism.”

“However,” Sherman continued, “until [the] UN removes Ms. Albanese from her post, it is clear that the UN continues to endorse antisemitism within its ranks.”

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Middle East subcommittee, said, “Francesca Albanese’s absurd campaign against the U.S. and Israel ends today. We will not tolerate antisemitic witch hunts by the UN and its affiliates.”

Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) said, “Albanese is a full-throated supporter of Muslim terror.”

Terrell wrote to Albanese earlier this year condemning her for a series of letters she wrote to organizations and businesses that support and invest in Israel, suggesting they may be criminally liable for genocide and war crimes.

Albanese has also allegedly faced private criticism from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Hillel Neuer, the executive director of UN Watch, which has scrutinized Albanese’s activity and history, called Rubio’s decision “bold and courageous.” 

“No U.N. official has ever been sanctioned before in history,” Neuer told JI. “Then again, no U.N. official has ever been condemned for Holocaust distortion and antisemitism by France, Germany, Canada, and both Democratic and Republican US administrations. … She will never again spread her poison on American campuses or enter the country. Justice is served. Good triumphs over evil.”

Jewish Insider congressional correspondent Emily Jacobs contributed reporting.

President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday swore in Charles Kushner as the U.S. ambassador to France. 

Kushner, a real estate executive, longtime Jewish philanthropist and father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared, was confirmed in May on a mostly party-line vote, with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) the only Democrat to support the confirmation. 

In Kushner’s testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he told senators about his parents having immigrated to the U.S. from Belarus, where most of their family died in the Holocaust. 

“My parents loved and appreciated our great country, the land of opportunity, just as I do,” Kushner said. 

In 2020, Trump pardoned Kushner, after the latter served two years in a federal prison for tax evasion and for retaliating against a federal witness. In November, Trump described Kushner as “a tremendous business leader, philanthropist and dealmaker.” 

During Kushner’s Oval Office swearing-in, he was joined by his children and grandchildren, including Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump — a rare White House appearance for the couple, who opted not to take on any official roles in Trump’s second term. Jared Kushner was a top Middle East advisor to Trump in his first term, and his swearing-in came as Trump is considering whether the U.S. should attack Iran’s nuclear program.

A bipartisan group of 45 House members wrote to President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday urging officials to act promptly to facilitate evacuations of American citizens from Israel, or at least provide them with additional information on efforts to allow for such evacuations.

They argued that communication from the administration to this point has been inadequate, leaving Americans without clear information or a path to leave Israel. They asked the administration to provide information to them by Wednesday that they can convey to their constituents.

“Americans in Israel are depending on our government for guidance and a pathway to safety,” the letter, obtained by Jewish Insider, reads. “All available options including evacuations by land routes and sea must be explored. At a minimum, American citizens in Israel deserve updates on the efforts underway to ensure their safe departure.”

The lawmakers criticized the State Department for failing to provide any additional information beyond directing them to enroll in the State Department’s travel registration and information program.

“We trust that you will honor our responsibility to protect the American people, no matter where they are in the world,” the lawmakers wrote. 

The letter was led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Wesley Bell (D-MO). The majority of the signatories were Democrats but two Republicans — Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) — also signed on.

The U.S. embassy’s offices in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv are set to be closed through at least Friday, the State Department announced.

A new bipartisan letter sent Friday by 16 House lawmakers to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff argues that any nuclear deal with Iran must permanently dismantle its capacity to enrich uranium — a notable message particularly from pro-Israel Democrats to the administration.

The letter highlights that an insistence on full dismantlement of Iran’s enrichment capabilities is not only a Republican position, and that President Donald Trump will not be able to count on unified Democratic support for a deal that falls short of that benchmark. Previously, 177 House Republicans said they also demand a deal that does not allow enrichment and some pro-Israel Democrats have expressed the view individually.

“We wholeheartedly agree that Iran must not retain any capacity to enrich uranium or continue advancing its nuclear weapons infrastructure,” the letter, which frames the appeal as an endorsement of Rubio and Witkoff’s public positions on the subject, states. “There is widespread bipartisan support for this requirement and we appreciate your commitment to this essential cornerstone of any agreement.”

The letter highlights the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, which mandates that any agreement with Iran be submitted for congressional review, and emphasizes, “for any agreement to endure, it must have strong bipartisan support. We urge you to engage with Congress as negotiations proceed to ensure that any final agreement commands broad support.”

The lawmakers called on the officials to work with the U.S.’ European allies to “promptly invoke the snapback mechanism” to reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran if talks fail to yield an agreement that fully dismantles Iran’s nuclear program.

They note that, given the Oct. 18 expiration of the snapback provision, “the process must begin by late Summer at the latest if no deal is reached. Iran’s repeated violations must be met with clear consequences.”

“The Iranian regime must understand that the United States is unwavering in its demand that Iran’s uranium enrichment capability be totally dismantled,” the letter reiterates. “We appreciate your leadership on this pressing matter vital to America’s national security interests and stand ready to work in a bipartisan manner to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

The letter, led by Reps. Laura Gillen (D-NY) and Claudia Tenney (R-NY), was co-signed by Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY), Wesley Bell (D-MO), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Don Bacon (R-NE), Eugene Vindman (D-VA), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Grace Meng (D-NY), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Chris Pappas (D-NH).

Pappas is also mounting a run for the U.S. Senate.