An open letter, signed by at least 460 Jewish and Israeli intellectuals, celebrities and political figures, calls on the UN and heads of state to address ‘the underlying conditions of occupation, apartheid and the denial of Palestinian rights’ that are absent from U.S. President Trump’s Gaza cease-fire agreement
NEW YORK – A group of prominent Jewish leaders and celebrities are calling on world leaders to hold Israel accountable for its actions in Gaza and to use the cease-fire with Hamas as a turning point toward a just and lasting peace.
In an open letter titled “Jews Demand Action” released Wednesday, former Knesset Speaker and interim Israeli President Avraham Burg, former Israeli negotiator Daniel Levy Canadian writer Naomi Klein and author Peter Beinart, are joined by at least 460 Jewish public figures urging sanctions on Israel and enforcement of international law.
The letter, addressed to the UN Secretary-General and global heads of state, marks the first coordinated appeal of its kind since the cease-fire took effect on October 10.
“It is with great relief that we welcome the cease-fire,” the letter reads. “And yet there should be no doubt that this cease-fire is fragile: Israeli forces remain in Gaza, the agreement makes no reference to the West Bank, the underlying conditions of occupation, apartheid and the denial of Palestinian rights remain unaddressed.”
Signers include artists, authors and activists such as actors Ilana Glazer, Hannah Einbinder and Wallace Shawn, Oscar-winning directors Jonathan Glazer and Yuval Avraham, comedians Eric André and Leo Reich and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Benjamin Moser.
The letter urges world leaders to uphold international law, sanction those complicit in war crimes, ensure aid reaches Gaza and reject false accusations of antisemitism against advocates for peace and justice.
“The cease-fire must be the beginning, not the end. The risk of reverting to a political reality of indifference to occupation and permanent conflict is too great. This same pressure must be continued to deliver a new era of peace and justice for all – Palestinians and Israelis alike,” the letter says.
In a phone interview with Haaretz, Burg explained his motivation for initiating the letter.
“Throughout the darkness in Gaza, I never stopped writing and defending my values. From this emerged a project I wholeheartedly support. We have reached a moment of existential rupture. My country now stands in conflict with my deepest human and Jewish values. Between a state apparatus that has been hijacked and the moral foundations of my people, the choice is clear,” he said.
In August, Burg called on Jews worldwide to join a collective legal complaint at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of crimes against humanity in Gaza, writing on his Substack, “We need one million Jews – less than 10 percent of the global Jewish population – to file a joint appeal to the Court in The Hague.”
“I’ve come to realize I was wrong to think we were few. Thousands of Jews around the world have been waiting for this voice. What’s happening in Gaza and the occupied territories is not Judaism – it’s a horrific religious and fanatic mutation. We must stand against it, speak truth to power, and refuse to be silenced,” he added.
Levy, one of the initiators of the letter, told Haaretz the effort isn’t about diminishing the atrocities of October 7. “It’s about being clear-eyed – not only about what happened next, but about what had been neglected for decades: the refusal to pursue any political path to address and resolve permanent occupation. That could never lead to security or well-being,” he said.
The initiative is about finding other Jewish voices. “And they’re not hard to find,” he said. “They keep proliferating. Many have been deeply disgusted by what’s been done in the name of the Jewish collective, as if this is what we learned from Jewish history, as if this is our manifest destiny.”
The letter follows a recent Washington Post poll showing sharp disapproval among Jewish Americans for Israel’s conduct in the war, with 61 percent saying Israel has committed war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.
Despite the cease-fire, IDF strikes in southern Gaza have killed 44 people since Sunday, according to hospital sources.
“I think we’ll see more people unwilling to return to business as usual after this fragile cease-fire. They’re saying no – this has to change. We must fundamentally reclaim what we stand for. Because simply returning to the status quo of October 6 will only lead to more disaster. Pressure works. Accountability matters. We can’t just move on as if nothing happened,” Burg added.
“Throughout Jewish history, there were moments when the majority followed disastrous leaders blindly, and it was the few who stood against them who preserved this great and noble tradition. It has happened before, and it is our duty once again,” he said.
“The righteous minority must offer a lifeline to the misguided majority. To oppose the ideologies of Jewish supremacy, and the leadership of a corrupt prime minister who sacrifices us all on the altar of his own selfish interests and lethal hubris.”
The letter’s release coincides with an EU summit in Brussels where leaders are weighing sanctions on Israel, and a forthcoming International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s obligations in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It also coincides with talks beginning over the second phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s cease-fire plan.
The letter is avaialble here https://jewsdemandaction.org/