[ ]J Street [ ]
Friends,

One month ago, Hamas launched a heinous, murderous onslaught against the
State and people of Israel.

The scale and scope of this shocking attack was unprecedented. Thousands
of terrorists rampaged through communities across Israel’s south,
spreading death and destruction. 1,400 Israelis were murdered, thousands
injured.

An estimated 244 Israelis and other foreign nationals, including children
and the elderly, were taken hostage. For a month, their fate has remained
agonizingly uncertain. Most of Israel continues to live under fire from
rockets from Gaza and the threat of Hezbollah attacks on the northern
border. A quarter million Israelis have been displaced from their homes.

No one in Israeli society has been left unscathed or unscarred. The people
of Israel and Jews around the world are in ongoing grief and mourning.

In the wake of October 7, J Street has been clear that we stand with the
Israeli people.

We support the Israeli government’s right to defend its citizens in
accordance with international law, to hold Hamas accountable for their
brutality and to remove Hamas from operational control of Gaza.

Most centrally, we demand the immediate release of all hostages held in
Gaza and insist that Hamas immediately allow the International Red Cross
to visit and assess their wellbeing.

One month into this terrible conflict, we are also horrified by the plight
of Palestinian civilians in Gaza – roughly half of whom are children – as
their streets and homes are turned into an inescapable war zone.

Israel’s and Egypt’s siege of the Strip has prevented adequate food,
water, medicine and electricity from reaching the civilian population. An
already severe humanitarian crisis is being dramatically exacerbated.

Hamas bears major responsibility for this crisis, brazenly putting its own
people in harm’s way by embedding military infrastructure, weapons and
fighters in the midst of and underneath crowded civilian areas. The group
abominably hoards fuel and other supplies, while hospitals close for lack
of power.

The health and safety of Gaza’s noncombatants is also – morally and
legally – an Israeli responsibility. J Street has been calling for
humanitarian pauses to facilitate the verifiable delivery of humanitarian
assistance to civilians, to allow families to reach safety and to give
time and space for hostage negotiations. Power should be restored in a
supervised manner to allow hospitals to function and desalination plants
to pump clean water.

A pause would also give the Israeli government time to consider both its
strategic goals and tactical choices. Importantly, Israel should be using
this time to publicly and clearly state what the plans are for the “day
after” if it succeeds in removing Hamas from control. All reports indicate
that there is little planning and little consensus in the Israeli cabinet
over what happens in Gaza when the fighting stops – while the latest
comments from Prime Minister Netanyahu indicate an alarming intention for
Israel to maintain “indefinite security control” over Gaza, contradicting
the stated intentions of the Biden Administration.

Perhaps most importantly, a pause could allow Israel to seek to minimize
the terrible toll that their military operation is taking on the civilian
population of Gaza. Reports indicate that over 10,000 Palestinians have
been killed in Gaza, including nearly 4,000 children, with many thousands
more wounded. While some of those killed are undoubtedly Hamas fighters
and other militants, it’s clear that the majority are innocent civilians.

We recognize Israel’s right to pursue the terrorists who carried out the
October 7 attack. We support a campaign targeted at removing Hamas from
control of Gaza – because with these heinous terrorists in control, it is
impossible to envision how Israelis could ever safely return to the Gaza
envelope, or how a peaceful political end to this conflict could ever be
secured.

In pursuit of these legitimate goals, Israel’s actions must comply with
international law and every possible step must be taken to minimize the
harm to civilians in Gaza. Israeli leaders should recognize that
widespread civilian suffering could ultimately push more people to turn
toward a path of hate, revenge and terror.

The level of violence and the scope of death and devastation indicate that
the operation thus far has not been as narrowly targeted as deemed
necessary by many experts on the laws of armed conflict. According to
reports, almost as many bombs were dropped on Gaza’s 141 square miles in
just the first week of the war than the US dropped on Afghanistan’s
quarter million square miles in the most intense year of that war (2019).

And the violence isn’t limited to Gaza. In the West Bank, threats and
violence from extremist settlers have soared from already extremely high
levels prior to October 7, with more than 1,000 Palestinians forced to
flee their homes and soldiers and settlers killing over 130 Palestinians
in the past month.

Appalling and hateful rhetoric from some members of the Israeli government
– including calls to “bomb without distinction” and “eliminate everything”
– are unacceptable on their face, and further fracture support for Israel,
calling into serious question the military campaign’s objectives.

That’s why – at the one-month mark – we believe it is necessary to ask
tough questions and to consider whether the approach being taken will
achieve the goals we all share and whether the cost in civilian lives is
acceptable.

We also must ask out loud questions that many in Israel and its friends
globally are pondering quietly: Can a government with far-right,
anti-democratic extremists in key decision-making roles be trusted to
responsibly lead such a complex, difficult and morally fraught operation?

Do they have any intention of heeding the calls and warnings of the United
States to uphold international law, protect civilians and defeat Hamas via
more surgical and targeted counter-terror operations? Do they have any
intention of controlling or curtailing the chaos caused by rampaging
settlers in the West Bank? What are their strategic objectives and their
plans for “the day after,” not only in Gaza but in the West Bank?

We know the Biden Administration has worked tirelessly – in public and
private – to bolster Israel’s security, to aid in defeating Hamas, to
attempt to free the hostages, to surge more aid into Gaza and to urge
Israel to protect Palestinian civilians.

J Street is deeply grateful for their efforts.

Now, one month into this war, we also must ask hard questions of President
Biden and his team.

With their calls for caution, restraint and pragmatism unheeded, are they
ready to convey and enforce clearer red lines for the Netanyahu
government?

And – as they provide supplemental military aid to Israel – will they
insist and ensure that this aid be used in accordance with international
law? Do they have plans to ensure that the end of this war leads toward an
end to occupation, a route to Palestinian independence and statehood and
broader regional peace – instead of back into an endless cycle of
conflict, recrimination and revenge?

Will they make clear that Netanyahu’s vision of indefinite Israeli control
of Gaza and the West Bank is unacceptable and insist that the Israeli
government accept that the only resolution to this conflict is the
ultimate creation of a free and independent Palestinian state?

And shouldn’t such commitments be required as part of the provision of
such a massive commitment of aid?

As supporters of Israel who understand the very serious threats facing the
country today, we understand that it is necessary to fight and defeat
those enemies who seek to do Israel harm.

We also remain unbowed in our conviction that there is no long-term
military solution to the conflict that has plagued the Israeli and
Palestinian peoples for a century.

Hamas needs to be removed from power, and then Israel and the Palestinian
people need leadership committed to recognizing the humanity and the
rights of both peoples. Leaders who realize that lasting security, safety
and freedom for future generations will come only through negotiation,
compromise and peace – not through war.

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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