Dear Senator King,
You’ve been a steadfast supporter of Israel and have spoken out strongly on Israel’s right to defend itself after the horrendous attacks of October 7.
Israel is the military superpower in the Middle East, but has always been in a precarious and difficult situation with its neighbors. As one Israeli statesman said, “we jumped out of a building on fire and landed on another people.” In it’s attempt to keep its own people safe, Israel has brought increased oppression and fear to its Palestinian neighbors. Not an easy situation for any of the parties.
When the United States was attacked on September 11, the whole world stood with us, aghast at the terrible violence we had suffered. There was a natural reaction to want to exact revenge on those who attacked us. With our vast military might we started a decades’ long war that left hundreds of thousands of innocents dead, wasted trillions of dollars on destruction in other lands, left whole nations embittered toward us, making us less safe than ever. Though our allies supported us in some of these endeavors, a true friend and ally would have counseled us to restrain our response. The evil we had endured had been shown for what it was and the perpetrators had lost legitimacy and power in their very attack.
A true friend of Israel would similarly have counseled restraint and would not have aided and abetted the terrible destruction that Israel has wrought on Gaza.. The world stood with Israel on October 7 but it cannot stand with Israel in its blind rage and inhuman revenge. Its actions threaten the rule of law, what tenuous yet critical institutions and agreements of international order we have created since World War II. Israel and the United States proceed at great peril to thumb our noses at international law. Might does not make right.
I urge you to be a true friend of Israel, a true friend of order and peace. There must be a cease-fire. We must end our support of the Israeli military until such a cease-fire. We must work toward justice for Palestine and Israel. We have a huge responsibility to aid the Palestinians in rebuilding. Look how much damage has been done by rage and vengeance these many years. We must chart a better course.