FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Adina Marx | media@jvp.org | 929-290-0317
“Statements of ‘deep concern’ are meaningless in the face of the Israeli government’s rapidly escalating state violence against Palestinians living under occupation and siege.”
Washington, D.C., February 14, 2023 – Following another night of deadly Israeli military raids on Palestinian communities, Jewish Voice for Peace Action calls on the Biden administration to take concrete actions to hold the Israeli government accountable for violations of human rights and international law and withdraw U.S. support now.
During its first 1.5 months in office, Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition government is behaving exactly as promised: accelerating its violent attacks on Palestinians and committing grave violations of human rights and international law. Meanwhile, the Biden administration wrings its hands, makes hollow statements, and takes no meaningful action.
Israel’s far-right government has launched an escalated phase of state violence against Palestinians, which is the root cause of every senseless and tragic death. In the first six weeks of 2023, Israeli forces and settlers have killed 50 Palestinians, including 11 children. Last year was already the deadliest for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2004, and 2023 is now set to out-pace it. Attacks carried out by Palestinians in illegal settlements in Jerusalem, and gunfire from Jewish-Israeli citizens carrying weapons during these attacks and shooting at attackers, have resulted in the killing of 11 Jewish-Israelis.
The Israeli government’s domination and oppression of Palestinians is the root cause of each of these deaths. Netanyahu and the other extremist leaders in his coalition government are using this moment to justify the rapid expansion of the settler project – demolishing more Palestinian homes, building more settlements and outposts, and increasing mass arrests and displacement of Palestinian communities. This week’s announcement to approve thousands more illegal settler units and nine outposts make the intentions of the government even more explicit.
The United States is fully complicit in the violence of Israel’s current and past government. In addition to the $3.8 billion dollars in unconditional annual military funding sent from the U.S., the Biden administration has actively sought to silence Palestinians seeking accountability at home and in the international arena. Netanyahu’s coalition government is exposing the State of Israel as the violent apartheid regime it has always been and removing the fake mask of democracy. It is long past time for the Biden administration to respond.
The Biden administration’s finger-wagging over the Israeli government’s actions are inadequate and will not lead to any meaningful change. The U.S. should immediately take steps to withdraw support now and to hold the Israeli government accountable for its gross violations of human rights and war crimes against Palestinians, including ending U.S. military funding and diplomatic support for Israel’s apartheid regime.
“The Biden administration currently appears more concerned with wanting Israel to maintain its facade of democracy, than with the lives and rights of Palestinians living under Israeli apartheid. Statements of ‘deep concern’ are meaningless in the face of the Israeli government’s rapidly escalating state violence against Palestinians living under occupation and siege. It is long past time to finally end U.S. complicity in Israeli apartheid.”
— Beth Miller, Political Director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action
Beth Miller is available to speak with the media