Jewish Voice for Peace condemns the Israeli government’s latest violent escalation

In its first five days in office, Benjamin Netanyahu’s new far-right Israeli government is behaving exactly as promised: accelerating its violent attacks on Palestinians and committing grave violations of human rights and international law.

Since the new government took office, the Israeli army has killed three Palestinians, including two teenage boys. In the past two days, the Israeli government appears to have escalated the forced expulsion of over 1,000 Palestinians from their homes in Masafer Yatta, and destroyed half a dozen homes and vital infrastructure including water tanks. On Tuesday, Israel’s new National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir took the intentionally escalatory action of entering Al Aqsa mosque, while preventing Palestinian worshippers from entering one of the holiest sites in Islam. This act was condemned by Arab states across the region; the United Nations Security Council is set to convene Thursday on this topic.

None of this is surprising—the new Israeli government has been clear about its agenda from the beginning: ensure Jewish supremacy over all land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and expedite the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. This is the most extremist, supremacist government in Israel’s history, and they were elected by the Israeli public to do just that. Some of its new leaders, including Ben-Gvir, openly advocate for the formal expulsion of Palestinian citizens of Israel who they deem disloyal. We should heed the warning signs—Netanyahu’s new coalition will aggressively oppress Palestinians, suppress all dissent, and foment violence.

We call on progressive American Jews to join us in demanding an end to U.S. military funding to Israel, and to actively participate in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement until Palestinians are free.

Tallie Ben-Daniel, Managing Director, Jewish Voice for Peace: “The horrifying actions of this new government, only five days in, prove exactly what Palestinians have been saying all along: Israel is an apartheid state, where Palestinians are treated as inferior. The dangerous escalations by the new Israeli government make clear that now is the time for action. All Jewish people who believe in justice should support Palestinians’ calls for freedom and speak up against this far-right, extremist new government.”

Beth Miller, Political Director, Jewish Voice for Peace Action: “The Biden Administration has enabled and paved the way for this extremist Israeli government by ensuring total impunity for Israel’s actions and actively fighting against any attempts to hold the Israeli government accountable for its human rights violations. Claims by the administration to ‘oppose’ escalatory policies are empty without concrete action to end U.S. complicity in Israeli apartheid.”