Friends --
The images below -- via Israeli human rights group B’Tselem -- come from a spate of settler attacks across the West Bank this year.
In some cases, Israeli settlers appear to be using American-made weapons. In almost all cases, security forces have been present, but have done little to protect Palestinian civilians or arrest Israeli settlers engaged in vandalism, intimidation and violence.
We still need your name on our petition calling for stronger American leadership to stop this.
ADD YOUR NAME NOW
I’m a former IDF officer. My children have both served in the IDF. I’ve trained hundreds of young recruits. And I continue to be disgusted by these attacks.
Earlier this year, 100 Israeli soldiers wrote an open letter calling on the Israeli government to do more to stop the violence and end the impunity. “Settler violence has been raging for years,” they wrote, “and is being answered with tacit support.”
Enabling this violence is a moral failure, a violation of Israel’s founding values, and a threat to Israel’s future as a just, democratic homeland for the Jewish people. It feeds a cycle of injustice and retaliation which undermines our security, degrades the IDF’s reputation and increases the risk of reprisals.
As Israel’s closest ally and strongest security partner, the United States cannot turn a blind eye when our shared values are being violated. The State Department must press Israeli authorities to stop these attacks and hold perpetrators accountable.
If you agree, please join the fight by adding your name to our petition >>
At J Street, we’re also calling on the Biden administration to investigate whether any US-supplied weapons or equipment are being used to support or enable such attacks, or to raid, surveil or detain peace activists. The administration must make clear that such uses violate US law.
When we talk about this violence, we must also recognize that these attacks have a clear political motivation as well. They are part of an effort to push Palestinians from their land, to build more settlements and to entrench permanent, undemocratic control over Palestinian territory -- and we cannot allow this to succeed.
The right-wing vision of permanent occupation destroys lives, violates our values and is corrosive to our shared vision of a just, democratic homeland for the Jewish people.
Any system which maintains indefinite military control over millions of non-citizens who are denied democratic rights and access to justice will always be rife with violence and impunity. We must commit ourselves to a better future.
Please make sure your name is on our petition now >>
Thank you, sincerely, for supporting this work.
Nadav Tamir
Executive Director, J Street Israel
