“We bow our heads in immeasurable sorrow as the evidence accumulates that Israel’s actions will be judged to have met the legal definition of genocide,” read one line of an open letter that demanded accountability for Israel’s conduct in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
Signed by over 450 prominent Jewish figures, including former Israeli officials, Oscar winners, authors, and intellectuals, the letter urged the United Nations and world leaders to impose sanctions on Israel, condemning what they described as “unconscionable” actions amounting to genocide in Gaza.
The letter came ahead of the EU leaders’ meeting in Belgium capital, amid reports that proposals for sanctions over human rights violations may be shelved.
“We have not forgotten that so many of the laws, charters, and conventions established to safeguard and protect all human life were created in response to the Holocaust,” the letter read.
“Those safeguards have been relentlessly violated by Israel.”
Signatories include former Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy, former speaker of the Israeli Knesset Avraham Burg, British author Michael Rosen, Canadian author Naomi Klein, Oscar-winning film-maker Jonathan Glazer, US actor Wallace Shawn, Emmy winners Ilana Glazer and Hannah Einbinder, and Pulitzer prize winner Benjamin Moser.
The letter urged the world leaders to respect and abide by the decisions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), including their application in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, to issue arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court, and to resist any undue pressure or influence that could hinder the functioning of these courts.
Calling it a first-of-its-kind "global Jewish open letter to world leaders with an unprecedented roster of high profile Jewish voices," former Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy told TNIE that the Jewish signatories are demanding the fragile Gaza ceasefire "is followed by a push for peace and justice for Palestinians and Israelis alike by addressing ongoing occupation, apartheid and denial of Palestinian rights."
"To desist from being complicit and to impose sanctions, enforce international law and accountability. It makes clear that this call draws on our deepest Jewish traditions & historic experience," he added.
The signatories also urged the leader to refuse complicity in ongoing crimes and violations of international law against Palestinians by Israel, including ending the supply of arms and other relevant goods, imposing targeted sanctions on officials and governmental bodies responsible, and suspending relations with commercial entities contributing to these violations.
Other signatories of the letter include Israeli conductor Ilan Volkov, playwright V (formerly Eve Ensler), American comedian Eric André, South African novelist Damon Galgut, Oscar-winning journalist and filmmaker Yuval Abraham, Tony Award winner Toby Marlow, and Israeli philosopher Omri Boehm.
The letter also emphasised the need to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches all Palestinians in Gaza at the scale of their urgent needs, that the blockade is lifted, reconstruction materials are allowed in, and that Israeli military forces fully withdraw.
Finally, it called on the international community to reject false accusations of antisemitism that exploit history to discredit those advocating for peace and justice.
“As Jews and as human beings, we declare: Not in our name. Not in the name of our heritage, our faith, or our moral tradition. The monumental scale of the killing and destruction, the forced displacement, the deliberate withholding of life-sustaining necessities, and the ongoing criminal actions in the West Bank must end and never be repeated,” the signatories wrote.
The letter added that the signatories deplored the claim by Israeli leaders that the atrocities against Paletinians was committed in the name of the Jewish people.
“The Israeli government may claim to speak on behalf of the Jewish collective, but it does not speak for us,” it read adding that, this affront to the collective conscience cannot stand and that It must be challenged.
“Our solidarity with Palestinians is not a betrayal of Judaism, then, but a fulfillment of it. When our sages taught that to destroy one life is to destroy an entire world, they did not carve exceptions for Palestinians,” the signatories wrote.
Saying that the international pressure helped secure the current ceasefire, it added “The ceasefire must be the beginning, not the end. The risk of reverting to a political reality of indifference to occupation and permanent conflict is too great. This same pressure must be continued to deliver a new era of peace and justice for all—Palestinians and Israelis alike,” it read.
“The need for redress long predates October 7th, 2023. The crimes committed by Hamas and other armed factions on that day horrified us. The Israeli actions that followed were unconscionable,” the letter said.
“Attempts are already underway to deny accountability and reassert the same broken playbook of impunity. That cannot pass.”
The signatories affirmed their belief in the universality of justice and the fair, equal application of international law.
They noted that many of the laws, charters, and conventions designed to protect human life were created in response to the Holocaust, and emphasised that these safeguards have been repeatedly violated by Israel.
They called for accountability for the Israeli leadership’s serious breaches of international law, insisting that decisive action must be taken to end the collective punishment of Palestinians and to pursue lasting peace for the benefit of both peoples.
The letter published by Jews Demand Action, urged the leaders to turn the ceasefire into a just and lasting peace, ending Israel's system of occupation and apartheid and thereby guaranteeing the future well-being of Palestinians and Israelis alike.
“We shall not rest until this ceasefire carries forward into an end of occupation and apartheid. We write in the hope that this initiative further emboldens a moment of renewed Jewish commitment to act with conscience and compassion,” the letter read.
The appeal comes amid a considerable shift in public opinion among US Jews and the wider American electorate in recent years. A poll by the Washington Post found that 61 per cent of US Jews believe Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza, while 39 per cent consider its actions to amount to genocide.
While looking at the broader American public, it was found that 45 per cent told the Brookings Institution they view Israel as committing genocide, and a Quinnipiac survey in August showed that half of US voters hold the same view, including 77 per cent of Democrats.
At least 65,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since October 7, 2023 with more than 167,000 injured, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Meanwhile, the UN estimates that around 90 per cent of the population is internally displaced.
In a fact-finding mission by two US Democratic senators, it was concluded that Israel was implementing “a systematic plan to destroy and ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza”, with the US complicit in these actions.
Their report showed that the civil infrastructure was almost completely destroyed with food being weaponised and humanitarian aid delivery facing systematic obstacles.
The October 10 ceasefire was considered fragile as it was reported that Israel constantly violated the agreements. It was reported that Israel violated the ceasefire 80 times and killed at least 80 Palestinians in the past 11 days. Meanwhile, the Israeli military accused the Hamas of violating the agreement and killing two Israeli soldiers while delaying the return of the hostages’ bodies.
However, the letter failed to reference West Bank, where settler violence persists and the root causes of the occupation remain unaddressed.
According to the latest UN humanitarian office report, more than 3,200 Palestinians have been injured in attacks in the West Bank this year. In October, the UN reported 71 settler assaults in just one week.
Yesh Din, an Israeli civil rights group, reported that only 3 per cent of investigations into settler violence between 2005 and 2024 resulted in convictions.
The ICJ is set to issue a new ruling this week clarifying Israel’s obligations in the occupied territories, following its non-binding advisory opinion in July 2024 that declared the occupation unlawful.
Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers are reportedly backing away from sanctions, despite the bloc’s diplomatic service noting “indications” that Israel is breaching its human rights obligations under the EU-Israel association agreement.
