460 Jewish figures call on the UN and the world to sanction Israel
Our solidarity with Palestinians is not a betrayal of Judaism but a fulfillment of it. When our sages taught that to destroy one life is to destroy an entire world, they did not carve out exceptions for Palestinians.
Hundreds of well-known Jewish voices from across the world are urging the United Nations and global leaders to immediately sanction Israel for its war crimes in Gaza.
More than 460 individuals — including former Israeli officials, acclaimed artists, authors, and academics — have endorsed an open letter demanding that Israel be held accountable for its actions in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
“We remember that many of the international laws and conventions designed to protect human life were created in response to the Holocaust,” the letter states. “Israel has systematically violated those very protections.”
Among the signatories are former Knesset speaker Avraham Burg, ex-Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy, British writer Michael Rosen, Canadian author Naomi Klein, Oscar-winning director Jonathan Glazer, American actor Wallace Shawn, Emmy winners Ilana Glazer and Hannah Einbinder, and Pulitzer Prize–winning author Benjamin Moser.
“Our solidarity with Palestinians is not a betrayal of Judaism but a fulfillment of it. When our sages taught that to destroy one life is to destroy an entire world, they did not carve out exceptions for Palestinians. We shall not rest until this ceasefire carried forward into an end to occupation and apartheid,” they said in a statement.
The signatories urge world leaders to uphold international court of justice (ICJ) and international criminal court rulings, avoid complicity in international law violations by halting arms transfers and imposing targeted sanctions, ensure adequate humanitarian aid to Gaza, and reject false claims of antisemitism against those advocating for peace and justice.
"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," it said. "Those safeguards have been relentlessly violated by Israel."
The appeal follows a sharp shift in public opinion for US Jews and the wider electorate over the last few years. A Washington Post poll found that 61% of US Jews believe Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza, and 39% say it is committing genocide.
Two US Democratic senators, Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley, concluded after a fact-finding mission to the region in September that Israel was implementing “a systematic plan to destroy and ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza”, with the US complicit in these actions.
Their report detailed the near-total destruction of civilian infrastructure, the weaponization of food and systematic obstacles to humanitarian aid delivery.
Since October 2023, the Israeli war in Gaza has killed more than 68,200 people and injured over 170,000, according to the Palestine Health Ministry