[ ]J Street[ ]
J Street Welcomes Biden Administration Letter on Gaza Humanitarian Crisis

October 15, 2024

J Street welcomes the letter sent on October 13 by Secretaries Antony
Blinken and Lloyd Austin to Israeli Ministers Yoav Gallant and Ron Dermer
about the “deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza” and seeking
“urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse
this trajectory.”

The letter, which was made public today, stresses Israel’s obligation
under US law not to “arbitrarily deny, restrict, or otherwise impede” the
transport or delivery of US-supported humanitarian assistance to Gaza. It
focuses on specific recent actions by the Israeli government and also
reflects a year-long concern that J Street, humanitarian officials and
American legislators have had with the Israeli government’s ongoing
failure to ensure that sufficient levels of humanitarian assistance are
reaching Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is not simply a legal
obligation; it is a moral one that would serve the strategic interests of
the State of Israel as well.

Responding to the letter and supporting the administration’s approach, J
Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami said: “This is a critical and much-needed
call to action by the Biden Administration, telling the Israeli government
to meet its legal and moral obligations and to live up to assurances it
has provided previously. It is also a vital reminder that there should be
serious consequences for failing to do so. It is absolutely appropriate
for the US government to send the message to Prime Minister Netanyahu and
his right-wing, extreme government that continuing to fuel a humanitarian
crisis and block aid from reaching hungry, desperate families will not be
tolerated.”

“America must uphold our values, and that includes making clear that our
military aid is not a blank check, and that our laws are very clear that a
recipient of US security assistance that prevents or impedes the flow of
US government-supported humanitarian aid into a conflict zone puts that
assistance at risk,” Ben-Ami said.

“Americans should expect the leaders of Israel to uphold our shared
values, and that includes making crystal clear that starvation is not an
acceptable weapon of war. Failure to meet the most basic needs of the
civilian population of Gaza is not only corrosive to the values at the
heart of the US-Israel relationship, it also fuels the desperation and
deprivation upon which extremists feed,” he said.

Sunday’s letter starts a 30-day clock requiring specific Israeli actions
to address the administration’s concerns. We urge the Israeli government
to act seriously and quickly to address the issues raised in the letter,
and we urge the Biden Administration to be willing to enforce its
requirements – and the law – by making it clear that certain security
assistance will be limited in a meaningful manner if Israel does not come
into compliance.

 Read the statement on our website [ [link removed] ]here.


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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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