New Poll on Iran; JRDs Introduced to Stop US-Israeli Wars | Palestine Policy Roundup 3.23.26
Welcome to the Palestine Policy Roundup, a weekly publication of the IMEU Policy Project.
📊 POLL: VOTERS BELIEVE IRAN WAR BENEFITS ISRAEL MORE THAN US
A new poll released by IMEU Policy Project and Demand Progress found that 56% of American voters believe the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran benefits Israel more than the US. That’s nearly double the share of voters who think the US benefits more from the war (29%). This is a clear rejection of President Trump’s collusion with Israel to launch this illegal war.
VOTERS OPPOSE WAR: The poll also found that 53% of voters disapprove of President Trump’s attacks on Iran–which Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Speaker Mike Johnson have both claimed were launched at the behest of Israel.
This adds to the several polls which show opposition to the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran, even as President Trump mulls deploying US soldiers to the country.
Another poll that came out this month found that voters are significantly less likely (19 points) to support Congressional candidates who support the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran or who back supplemental funding for it.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: This poll came out just as an NBC poll provided even more evidence of the unpopularity of supporting Israel’s genocidal and apartheid policies among Democratic voters.
The NBC News poll found that nearly 60% of Democratic voters have negative views of Israel. This has grown by more than 20% since the beginning of Israel’s genocide.
Two-thirds of Democrats also indicate that they have more sympathy for Palestinians than Israelis–suggesting that Democratic voters are much more supportive of Palestinian rights today.
💣 SENATORS INTRODUCE JRDs TO BLOCK WEAPONS TO ISRAEL
Last Thursday, Senators Bernie Sanders, Chris Van Hollen, Peter Welch, and Jeff Merkley introduced Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) (S.J.Res.136, S.J.Res.137, S.J.Res.138) to block weapons to Israel amid the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran and Israel’s war on Lebanon. US taxpayers are presumably funding the nearly $660 million dollar weapons package that these JRDs seek to stop while Americans continue to bear the costs of the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran.
💡 POLICY ASK: IMEU Policy Project strongly encourages Senators to cosponsor and vote for these JRDs.
WEAPONS OF MASS DEVASTATION: These JRDs would specifically block the delivery of 12,000 1,000-pound bombs, 10,000 500-pound bombs, and 5,000 250-pound small-diameter bombs. Israel has used these kinds of weapons extensively during its attacks across the region and in violation of US and international law.
ASSERTING OVERSIGHT: These JRDs also come in response to President Trump once again flouting Congressional prerogatives to expedite the delivery of US weapons to Israel.
This is the fourth time that the Trump administration has chosen to bypass the informal review process and congressional oversight to send more weapons to Israel.
The Trump administration is increasingly using this strategy to force the delivery of weapons to other nations as well–most recently to the UAE, Kuwait, and Jordan–eroding Congressional oversight more broadly.
📖 LEARN MORE: Check out IMEU Policy Project’s policy memo outlining the need to support these JRDs.
🕊️ LEQAA KORDIA FREED FROM ICE DETENTION
Last Monday, Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian woman, was released from ICE detention after being held by the agency for more than a year. Leqaa is the final person released from ICE detention who was being held for supporting Palestinian rights at Columbia University.
FREE SPEECH CRACKDOWN: Just days after the Trump administration launched its crackdown by arresting Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, ICE detained Leqaa as a direct response to her activism.
As Columbia University students spoke out in support of Palestinian rights in April 2024, Leqaa joined a demonstration outside of the university. She and about 100 others were arrested by the New York Police Department at this demonstration, but the charges against her were dismissed and sealed.
ICE targeted Leqaa after receiving this arrest information from the NYPD and cited her support for Palestinian rights as a reason why they abducted her.
ONE YEAR IN DETENTION: Leqaa was released just days after the anniversary of her detainment by ICE.
ICE detained Leqaa in New Jersey on March 13, 2025, during a check-in with the agency.
Like Mahmoud and Dr. Rümeysa Öztürk, she was then flown thousands of miles away and held in the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. Despite being ordered released twice by judges, the Department of Homeland Security invoked a draconian 9/11-era regulation to keep her in detention both times.
In an op-ed published in January, Leqaa reported the squalid and inhumane conditions she has been subjected to while in detention: cockroach-infested holding cells, inedible food, and being denied access to halal food. These conditions likely contributed to a seizure she suffered in February. ICE kept Leqaa’s family and lawyers in the dark about her whereabouts for three days following this incident.
🔑 KEY TAKEAWAY: Leqaa Kordia reflected on her experience in ICE detention in an opinion piece published by Zeteo “On this International Women’s Day, nearly a year after I was first detained by ICE for speaking out for Palestinian freedom, my thoughts are filled with the women who, like me, are living – surviving – in immigration detention…Throughout history, women have been taught to stay quiet and shrink our power. The longer they hold me, the more I am reminded how important my story is. Our voices must matter. Why else would they be so afraid of what we have to say?”
THE FIGHT ISN’T OVER: While Leqaa is now free, like Mahmoud Khalil, she is still at risk of deportation. This is a critical victory in the fight against the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on speech and activism in support of Palestinian rights.
🚨 ISRAEL’S ATTACKS ON PALESTINIANS CONTINUE AMID ILLEGAL IRAN WAR
Israel has continued its attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza under the cover of the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran and its own war on Lebanon.
GAZA GENOCIDE CONTINUES: The Rafah border crossing reopened last Thursday after Israel closed all border crossings into and out of Gaza following the beginning of US-Israeli strikes on Iran. During the war, the number of trucks entering Gaza dropped by 80% and food prices have skyrocketed.
These figures were collected from the US-run Civilian Military Coordination Center, which does not distinguish in its public reporting between trucks that bring in commercial goods and trucks that bring in humanitarian aid. This has led to significant food shortages in Gaza.
According to President Trump’s October 2025 Gaza plan, Israel is obligated to allow 600 trucks of humanitarian aid into Gaza per day. This continued obstruction of humanitarian aid is a violation of the agreement and a violation of Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act, which necessitates an immediate end to US weapons deliveries to Israel.
Israel has also continued to kill Palestinians despite its obligations under the Gaza plan: On March 15, Israel killed 13 Palestinians across Gaza. Four of these people, including a 10-year-old, a 15-year-old, and a pregnant woman, were killed in an Israeli strike on a home in central Gaza.
An Israeli drone strike also attacked a group of Palestinians and killed one in Gaza City. This group was to the east of the Israeli redeployment line, also known as the yellow line, which Israel has turned into a kill zone for any and all Palestinians who even venture nearby.
ISRAELI VIOLENCE IN WEST BANK: In the West Bank, both the Israeli military and settlers alike continue their ethnic cleansing campaign and attacks against Palestinians.
Settlers have stepped up their attacks against Palestinians under the cover of the illegal Iran war. Just this weekend, rampaging Israeli settlers injured Palestinians and set fire to their property in at least six towns across the West Bank. Israeli soldiers were reportedly present during these attacks, but did nothing to stop them or to stop settlers from moving between Palestinian towns.
Undercover Israeli soldiers who were posing as Palestinians also killed a Palestinian family of four last week in an attack in another Palestinian town. The Bani Owda family was driving home from Nablus when they were attacked, according to a surviving member of the family. Ali Bani Odeh, Waed Bani Odeh, and their two sons–5-year-old Mohammed and 7-year-old Othman–were killed in the shooting.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that paramedics were prevented by Israeli soldiers from providing medical care to the victims.
👀 ICYMI: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SPEAK OUT
Rep. Summer Lee: “Our tax dollars are paying for bombs dropped on civilians from Gaza to Iran to Lebanon, and we're supposed to just sit back and watch full homes blown up on social media. It's sickening. No more weapons to Israel or bombs sent abroad, period.”
Rep. Delia Ramirez: “The genocide of Palestinians has not ended. Israeli soldiers just murdered Ali and Waed Odeh and two of their children, while wounding their other two children. Congress can’t turn a blind eye to the horrors happening to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. We must hold the Israeli government accountable. That starts by passing Block the Bombs. Not one more dollar, not one more excuse.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders: “Given the horrific destruction that Israel’s extremist government has wrought on Gaza, Iran and Lebanon, the last thing in the world American taxpayers need to do right now is to provide 22,000 new bombs to the Netanyahu government. No more weapons to support an illegal war.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen: “Last month another American was killed in the West Bank, the 9th in just over 4 years. Israeli settler violence is out of control but the Trump Admin, like the Biden Admin before it, hasn’t gotten justice for any of these killings. Rubio & Huckabee: DO YOUR DAMN JOBS!”
Rep. Sara Jacobs: “Hind Rajab was a brave and beautiful five-year-old Palestinian girl who was reportedly killed by the IDF in Gaza. In her memory, Senator Welch and I are fighting for accountability for her death and all the civilian harm in Gaza.”
Photo: Anelo, via Shutterstock. Stock Photo ID: 2641830381