[ ]J Street[ ]
Friends,

President Biden confirmed yesterday that he has decided to delay the
transfer of select offensive weapons to the Israeli government – including
massive 2,000-pound bombs which have leveled city blocks in Gaza and
killed scores of Palestinians.

This is an important, measured, and commonsense demonstration of US
leadership that J Street wholeheartedly supports.

While reaffirming his ironclad support for Iron Dome and Israel’s defense,
President Biden reiterated his red line: If Prime Minister Netanyahu
pursues a Rafah invasion without plans to protect the over one million
Palestinian civilians sheltering there, he cannot count on US support.

“If they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons,” Biden said. “It’s
just wrong.”

Since we launched J Street 15 years ago, we’ve supported every dollar of
every US security package to Israel. The decision to hold back certain
weapons shipments is one the President doesn’t take lightly. And neither
do we.

Yet we are convinced that this is the right call for Americans,
Palestinians and Israelis alike.

If you agree, please sign our petition supporting the President’s decision
and thanking him for this significant step. [ [link removed] ]Read, sign and share the
petition here >>

Unsurprisingly, those who take a black-and-white, all-or-nothing view on
these issues are lining up to attack President Biden with smears as
predictable as they are exaggerated.

MAGA leaders and those on the right are claiming that Biden is basically
siding with Hamas.

AIPAC has described President Biden’s decision as “dangerous” and said he
is emboldening Israel’s enemies – and is calling on Congress to take
action.

Meanwhile, voices on the extreme left are slamming the President for
failing to do enough and enabling a genocide, even if one might think they
would consider this a step in the right direction.

Friends, all right-thinking people want to see Hamas gone and the
perpetrators of October 7 held to account, but that does not mean we
should allow ourselves to be bullied into supporting a Netanyahu-led
operation which risks thousands of lives, including hostages, with no
clear strategic endgame.

So at J Street, we’ll be working to defend President Biden against these
smears.

On Capitol Hill, in the media and in communities across the country, we’ll
continue to back what we see as a measured step in the right direction:
Clear support for Israel’s security coupled with a clear rejection of
actions which violate our values.

Please take a moment to support this work: Add your name to rebut these
attacks and thank President Biden for this step forward. [ [link removed] ]Sign and share
the petition here >>

A full-scale Rafah operation risks the lives of hundreds of thousands of
innocent Palestinians, puts hostages in more danger, jeopardizes
negotiations, and risks further escalation on all fronts.

US aid to Israel must not be a blank check. The Israeli government should
be held to the same standards of all aid recipients, including
requirements to uphold international law and facilitate humanitarian aid.

We continue to hold out hope for a bilateral ceasefire to free hostages,
stop the fighting and allow a surge of aid to Gaza’s civilian population.
And in the interim, we will have the President’s back as he presses the
Netanyahu government to follow the surest path to achieving those
objectives - the path of diplomacy.

Yours in hope,

Jeremy Ben-Ami
President, J Street

 


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© 2024 J Street | [ [link removed] ]www.jstreet.org | [email protected]

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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