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 here.
