“End the Blank Check:” Hundreds Join Partners for Progressive Israel to Thank Members of Congress and Urge Them to Hold Biden Accountable

Dear Senators Durbin, Merkley, Warren, Welch, Van Hollen, Warnock, Murray, and Sanders, and Representatives Adams, Bowman, Bush, Carson, Casar, Frost, García, Jackson, Jayapal, Lee, Lee, Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Pressley, Ramirez, Tlaib, Velázquez, Watson Coleman, Johnson, Pocan, Castro, Escobar, McCollum, McGovern, Waters, Mfume, Green, Beyer, Scanlon, Grijalva, Balint, Vasquez, DeSaulnier, Garamendi, Garcia, Raskin, Phillips, Jacobs, Cleaver, Khanna, Carter, Doggett, Schakowsky, Dingell, Underwood, Kildee, Cárdenas, Thompson, Williams, Foushee, Bishop, Payne, Sewell, Wexton, DeGette, Takano, McGarvey Pingree, Stansburg, Lynch, Lofgren, Houlahan, Chu, Connolly, Dean, Trahan, Kelly, Bonamici, Tonko, Rochester, Crow, Sánchez, Sherrill, Smith, Gomez, Clark, Kim, Leger Fernández, Barragan, Blumenauer, Courtney, Crockett, Garcia, Holmes Norton, Thompson, and Tokuda – 

We, the undersigned, join Partners for Progressive Israel in thanking you for the leadership and moral and strategic clarity you have displayed in calling for a ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Since February, Partners for Progressive Israel has been calling on Members of Congress as well as the U.S. administration to publicly support an immediate bilateral ceasefire. All Israeli hostages held by Hamas must be allowed to return home. All necessary food and humanitarian aid must be allowed to enter Gaza to support Gaza’s civilians and allow the area’s reconstruction.

A ceasefire deal must also be the prelude to unrelenting diplomatic efforts so that the Middle East can transition to a new reality in which all living in the region enjoy security, human rights, and national self-determination. This will include the revitalization of the Palestinian Authority, Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, and U.S. and European recognition of a State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel.

We see that President Biden’s red line – an incursion into Rafah – has been crossed, with catastrophic results. We are heartened to see this administration’s calls to end this violence and the war, but these statements must be met with meaningful action. Our partners in the Land are asking us as Americans to stand up and amplify their call to the US government to make good on its promises to stop providing offensive weapons to the Israeli military.

Partners for Progressive Israel has always stood behind the legitimacy of the State of Israel to exist as a sovereign home where the Jewish people expresses its national identity, right to self-determination, and right to security. We see this position as axiomatic, while believing that the Palestinian people have no lesser rights to the same.

Israel’s fundamental legitimacy, however, does not, must not, mean that the specific policies crafted and conducted by a government of Israel should enjoy unquestioned, carte-blanche American support. Now, with Israel being led by the most extreme government in its history, a government whose members unabashedly flaunt their racism, militarism, and supremacism, we believe we must now cast away the norm that says Israel’s government deserves a blank American check, no matter what actions it takes or decisions it makes.

For more than three decades, our organization has, when necessary, criticized specific Israeli government policies based on our unwavering commitment to human rights and equality, as promised in Israel’s own Declaration of Independence, and as expressed in the writings of the Jewish prophets and sages. We regard this call to set conditions on offensive military aid to be an extension of our tradition as well as a reflection of the urgent demands being made by our partner organizations in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

We likewise take note as Americans that U.S. foreign aid is a tool expressly designed to promote American policies around the world, the stated objectives of which include peace and security, democratic governance, and unimpeded humanitarian assistance.

Israel is the largest recipient of American largesse, and its government’s willingness to accept offensive military aid must oblige a parallel acceptance of these American aims. We urge you, therefore, for the good of the region, including of Israel itself, to support an end to the blank-check approach, which is allowing Israel’s government to accept U.S. offensive aid while flouting American interests, Jewish values, and human rights, as well as explicit U.S. statutory requirements.

In this crucial moment, we sign this letter to urge you to listen to the voices of the courageous Israelis and Palestinians who are demanding peace and take the next vital step: tell this administration to end the blank check providing offensive weapons to Israel. 

We thank you again for your leadership on these issues.

Sincerely,