[ ]J Street [ ]
Friend,

The entire J Street community has been profoundly, deeply and often
personally affected by the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7. In
an unspeakably painful moment, we’ve rallied together to support each
other and to support communities on the ground.

In this exceedingly dark hour, we’ve been deeply moved by the support from
President Biden and leaders across the political spectrum.

When the President visited Israel last week, he delivered a strong,
heartfelt and meaningful show of support for Israelis at a time of immense
national grief and trauma. His visit and his words were warmly received by
Israelis and by the American Jewish community.

In the days and weeks since Hamas’ heinous attack, J Street has strongly
supported Israel’s right to defend its citizens in accordance with
international law and to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The hostages remain at the forefront of our concerns, and we urge
accelerated efforts by the international community to ensure their safe
and speedy return. Images of families filled with relief as the first
hostages were released have provided a rare glimpse of hope in an
otherwise dismal moment.

We’ve also borne witness to immense destruction and suffering in Gaza.
Families desperate to find shelter from air strikes, cut off from access
to food, water, medicine and electricity. We are deeply concerned by the
unfolding humanitarian catastrophe developing for its civilian population,
and are pressing for American leadership to save lives and prevent further
suffering.

The days ahead pose challenging decisions for Israel and for the United
States. There aren’t easy answers, or fully satisfactory ones.

However, we must recognize that decisions made now – in the heat of the
reaction to this horrific terror attack – will impact the safety and
security of Israelis, Palestinians, the Middle East and the world for
decades to come.

Below are considerations in the near-term regarding Israel’s response. In
a few days, I’ll share more thoughts about the longer term.

Undoubtedly, for days now, you’ve been seeing the same blaring headlines
that I have: “Ground Invasion Imminent.”

The Biden administration – wisely, I believe – has reportedly been
stressing caution and patience. We know that whatever course of action
Israel takes next will have significant ramifications for the safety of
hostages in Gaza, potential escalation on other fronts and, of course, the
safety and wellbeing of Palestinian civilians.

Many with direct experience making tough decisions in such situations have
written wise commentaries in recent days urging caution and
thoughtfulness, reflecting on the US experiences during the “War on
Terror”: Former President [ [link removed] ]Barack Obama. Israel’s most senior retired
military [ [link removed] ]commanders. Members of Congress with direct experience in Iraq
like [ [link removed] ]Seth Moulton and others.

As journalist Zack Beauchamp recently wrote in [ [link removed] ]Vox: As a true friend of
Israel, the United States should help Israel “make the right choice where
America made the wrong one.”

So, what does that look like?

First: As President Obama wrote this week, every conceivable effort must
be made to avoid civilian casualties, support humanitarian assistance, and
fully abide by international law.

“Upholding these values is important for its own sake, because it is
morally just and reflects our belief in the inherent value of every human
life,” [ [link removed] ]the former president wrote. “Upholding these values is also
vital for building alliances and shaping international opinion – all of
which are critical for Israel’s long-term security.”

Inflicting unnecessary suffering on civilians in Gaza is morally wrong and
deeply upsetting. Many of the scenes that we have seen from Gaza so far –
of residential buildings and city blocks destroyed, of entire families
killed, of hospitals barely functioning without sufficient electricity,
medicine or water – are horrifying to all of us. The prospect that the
toll taken on civilians could grow even worse going forward under an
intensified military operation is heartrending.

We also know, from America’s own experience, that continued devastation
and suffering in Gaza will also weaken support for Israel when it needs it
most.

J Street strongly supports diplomatic efforts to protect civilians and
deliver a much-needed “humanitarian surge” – including unimpeded
humanitarian corridors, turning water and electricity back on, designating
safe zones and heeding the advice of aid agencies.

We agree with Secretary of State Blinken, who told the UN Security Council
this week that “humanitarian pauses must be considered” for purposes of
protecting civilians, ensuring them access to vital aid and helping them
get out of harm’s way.

As President Obama noted, the Netanyahu government’s decision to cut off
food, water and electricity to a captive civilian population is wrong on
its face and threatens to backfire – not only worsening the growing
humanitarian crisis, but eroding regional and global support for Israel
while playing into the hands of its enemies.

The [ [link removed] ]appalling rhetoric from senior Israeli leaders who have called for
“bombing without distinction,” “destruction rather than accuracy” or even
that the children of Gaza have “brought this upon themselves” must also be
forcefully rejected.

Given that many members of the current Israeli government have
consistently promoted extremist and incendiary rhetoric, ideology and
policy during their tenure, a strong tempering influence from the United
States is vitally important.

As President Biden has made clear: The civilians of Gaza are not
responsible for the actions of Hamas and must not be made to pay the price
for their crimes.

Second: We must be clear-eyed that wars – once started – can be difficult
to contain. Every effort must be made by the US government and all parties
concerned to prevent the conflict from spiraling.

No matter how well planned, a large-scale invasion risks triggering a
spiral of escalation that could lead to a multi-front war: Gaza in the
south, Hezbollah in the north and explosive violence in the occupied West
Bank. Other regional actors could be drawn in. Most unhelpfully, we hear
right-wing forces in the United States – determined not to learn the
lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan – continuing to press for escalation with
Iran.

The United States is rightly working urgently to prevent and deter
regional escalation. We strongly support those diplomatic and other
efforts.

J Street has also [ [link removed] ]urged Israeli authorities to do more to stop a brutal
and reprehensible surge in settler and military violence against
Palestinian civilians in the West Bank – including over 120 violent
settler attacks and 28 children killed – which risk triggering further
chaos.

This is the moment for the United States to make clear that it expects
Israel to intercede to prevent settler attacks against civilians, to
ensure that live ammunition is not used against civilian protesters and to
ensure security forces do not participate in revenge attacks against
civilians.

Third: As former Marine and current Congressman Seth Moulton wrote for
<a href="[link removed]">CNN:
“The lesson America quickly learned in Iraq and Afghanistan was that you
have to have a plan for the day after.”

If the Israeli military “simply kill a lot of Hamas terrorists and leave
Gaza a smoldering mess,” he wrote, “they’ll have the same problem they do
today” – and may succeed only in radicalizing more terrorists. It’s a
lesson we learned painfully with both the insurgency in Iraq that
metastasized as ISIS and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

“Nobody wants to see five-year-old Palestinian kids killed in the
crossfire with Hamas, especially if their deaths only recruit more
terrorists,” [ [link removed] ]Moulton wrote. “And nobody wants to see five-year-old
Israeli kids dying, in the same forever war, 20 years from today.”

The United States – as Israel’s central security partner – can and must
use our influence to guide Israel’s leaders toward sober judgments, to
protect the safety and freedoms of Israelis and Palestinians and to chart
a better course forward.

In the view of many experts, the short-term tactical goal for Israel’s
military should be a focused, targeted counterterrorism operation aimed
squarely at the Hamas leadership and fighters responsible for the October
7 attack. Such an operation would aim to incapacitate Hamas, bring the
perpetrators to justice and minimize civilian and IDF casualties by
limiting the scope of ground operations.

In the next few days, I will share further specific thoughts on what the
President could do to articulate a vision for the future that is
realistic, principled and strategic.

As Israel grapples with ongoing grief and trauma, hostages remain in
captivity, Israeli soldiers prepare for a possible ground operation and
those with loved ones in Gaza remain terrified for their safety, our
shared pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy voice is more important than
ever in shaping the United States’ response.

We’ll continue to support and listen to each other as we share
perspectives and ideas, striving for grace and respect. We’ll continue
working to [ [link removed] ]support communities on the ground in Israel and our
pro-peace, pro-democracy allies in the region.

And we’ll continue to bring expert voices, nuanced analysis and considered
policy recommendations to leaders in Washington.

A better future is still possible. J Street will continue to dedicate
ourselves to the hard work necessary to get there.

Please, don’t hesitate to respond with your thoughts or questions.

Yours,

Jeremy Ben-Ami
President, J Street


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J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy
Americans who want Israel to be secure, democratic and the national home of the
Jewish people. Working in American politics and the Jewish community, we
advocate policies that advance shared US and Israeli interests as well as Jewish
and democratic values, leading to a two-state solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.



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