[ ]J Street[ ]
Friends,

To paraphrase Ecclesiastes, there is a time for war, and a time for
diplomacy.

J Street agrees with Israeli War Cabinet member and retired Chief of Staff
of the Israel Defense Forces Gen. Gadi Eisenkot that [ [link removed] ]the time has come
for diplomacy as the preferred option for achieving a core aim of Israel’s
war, the release of the remaining hostages.

General Eisenkot, who paid the ultimate sacrifice in this war in losing
his son Gal in this battle, spoke out last week in favor of the use of a
long-term halt in fighting to pursue diplomacy that could lead to the
release of the hostages. Eisenkot forthrightly acknowledged that the
fighting to date has not achieved the goals of the war, and it is time for
a different direction.

In Eisenkot’s words: “It needs to be said, bravely, that… it’s not
possible to return the hostages, alive, in the near term, without a deal.”
We agree.

It is time for a negotiated stop to the fighting to bring freedom to the
hostages and relief to the people of Gaza.

In parallel, we call for an immediate and dramatic surge in humanitarian
assistance to the civilian population of Gaza – led by Israel and the
United States – to address the horrific, unacceptable catastrophe there.
The toll inflicted upon civilians in Gaza has been unbearably high, the
suffering must stop now.

An agreed stop in the fighting and alleviation of the humanitarian crisis
will also permit meaningful multinational discussion of the complex
arrangements necessary to plan for the future of Gaza and to achieve
broader Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab peace.

As leading Biden administration officials and Arab leaders made clear last
week, there is a future in which Israel can be accepted into the region as
a full and integrated partner at peace with its neighbors, but that future
is only on offer if there is an Israeli commitment to a pathway to a
Palestinian state.

Israel had the unquestioned right to respond militarily to the horrific
terror attack of October 7 and will have an ongoing responsibility to
continue to protect and defend its citizens and hold to account those who
perpetrated the October 7 attack.

However, the time for war has come to a close. Now is the time to lead
with diplomacy.

There is only one route to ending the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab
conflicts, and that is through a broad regional diplomatic agreement that
creates a definitive pathway to an independent Palestinian state living in
peace and security alongside Israel, and in which Hamas is no longer in
operational control of Gaza.

Thank you, sincerely, for your ongoing support as we navigate this
incredibly challenging moment together.

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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