[ ]J Street [ ]
Friends,

Today marks two months since the October 7 attacks, each day filled with
pain and grief as J Street remembers the victims of Hamas’ barbaric attack
– including family, friends and colleagues.

J Street has been unwavering in support of Israel’s right – and the
country’s moral obligation – to respond to this attack, to defend itself
and to ensure that Israeli civilians never again come under threat from
Hamas’s terror stronghold in Gaza.

The past two months have also brought brutal and horrific suffering to the
people of Gaza, behind whom Hamas hides. The scope of the unfolding
humanitarian disaster and civilian casualties is nearly unfathomable.

We have been unequivocal that Israel’s military response must accord with
international law, centering the protection of civilians and the provision
of requisite humanitarian assistance. We were among the first to call for
humanitarian pauses to facilitate the release of hostages – which remains
a first priority – and urgently increase the flow of assistance to the
people of Gaza.

Were there a path to an immediate end to the fighting – with Hamas
unconditionally releasing all hostages, laying down its arms and arranging
for its leaders to depart Gaza – we would support that path. Barring this,
we remain convinced that long-term Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolution
demands removal of Hamas from operational control of Gaza.

While our belief in the legitimacy of a military operation remains
unchanged, our support for the way in which that operation is conducted is
not without limits.

As we have supported Israel’s military operation, we have repeatedly said
that Israeli forces must do their utmost to minimize civilian casualties,
maximize humanitarian aid and clamp down on both settler and military
violence against civilians on the West Bank. We have also urged the Biden
administration to seek Israel’s commitment to a vision for the ‘day after’
the fighting that leads toward Palestinian freedom and independence.

Most of what we have asked has, in fact, become US policy. The requests we
have outlined have been made of Israel, both publicly and privately by the
Biden administration. And our views on these matters have been echoed by
the majority of Democrats in the Senate and House.

However, since fighting restarted last week, Israeli forces have resumed
large-scale bombing and again cut or significantly reduced vital aid
flows. Areas designated as “safe” for civilians have been bombed, and
rising levels of disease, hunger and death have become both strategically
and morally unacceptable.

We do not see that it is in the strategic interest of the state of Israel
to pursue this campaign in a manner that generates more terrorists than it
eliminates, alienates nearly the entire international community and
doesn’t actually advance the goals of the war.

We are fast approaching a moment of truth: What happens if the Netanyahu
government continues to ignore the admonitions and guardrails that J
Street, the Biden administration and many Americans – Jewish and not –
support?

In our view, it is untenable for any ally receiving generous American
economic, military and diplomatic support to act in a way that disregards
the United States and our goals, values and interests.

The Prime Minister and the extremists in his Cabinet show no interest in
cracking down on lawless and thuggish violence on the West Bank, in
opening up anywhere near sufficient channels for humanitarian assistance
in Gaza or in minimizing the level of civilian casualties there – even as
we recognize that Hamas itself has placed civilians in the crossfire.

Perhaps most significant, the Netanyahu government has made clear it has
no interest in establishing an independent Palestinian state at any point
– the only conceivable long-term solution to the underlying conflict.

If Prime Minister Netanyahu fails to modify the nature of the military
campaign or to take the steps urged by the United States, J Street will
call on the Biden administration to change course. Over decades, the US
has built up considerable leverage and capital with Israel, and the
President should be prepared to wield it in telling Israel that the time
has come to stop this all-out military campaign.

This is not a step we will take lightly. Whatever happens in the coming
weeks, the US must remain steadfast in its commitment to ensuring Israel’s
safety, securing the release of hostages and working toward the defeat of
Hamas and other terror groups.

But, as Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has warned, the way the
Netanyahu government is pursuing its current campaign threatens to lead to
“strategic defeat.” This is a risk not just for the US, but for Israel and
the Jewish people.

We urge that Israel listen to US officials and recalibrate its military
approach to be more strategic, targeted and limited, that there be
openness to renewed negotiation for release of the remaining hostages, and
that discussions begin now toward establishing the kind of transitional
and multinational authority that would assume control of Gaza from Israeli
forces post conflict.

This is a moment of truth for the US-Israel relationship. White House
admonitions on these critical matters are not idle suggestions to be
considered and ignored or dismissed out of hand. US security assistance is
not an entitlement program to be provided in the form of a blank check.

The President has earned – deservedly – the friendship and the trust of
the Israeli people. He should tap into the wellspring of good will to
paint for the Israeli people a picture of the future that can be built for
Israel in the Middle East and globally if it commits to what the United
States is asking.

If we do not see evidence soon that the government of Israel is, in fact,
making meaningful changes to its conduct of the war and its attitudes
regarding post-war arrangements, then J Street will no longer be able to
provide our organizational support for the current military campaign.

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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