As Israeli Americans, we support Jon Ossoff’s approach to the Middle East
We are Israeli Americans living in the Atlanta metropolitan area.
We read the recent coverage in the AJC on the controversy over Georgia U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff’s votes on weapons sales to Israel and are writing to express our strong support for Senator Ossoff’s decisions. (“For some Jewish voters in Georgia, neither U.S. Senate choice is simple,” AJC, Aug. 21).
We were born and raised in Israel, served in its army, have experienced its wars and difficult times, and many of our friends and families still live there.
We visit regularly and get our news about the country directly from our loved ones and from the Israeli media. We have deep personal stakes in the country and all who live there, Israelis and Palestinians alike.
We believe that Senator Ossoff’s votes to pause some weapons sales to Israel – while at the same time voting to continue support of its air defense systems, like Iron Dome – demonstrated that he is a thoughtful ally of the Israeli people and cares deeply about their future and about the future of all people in the region.
These were courageous votes, ones that Senator Ossoff knew he would likely pay a political price for. It would have been easy to do the cynical thing and vote for a limitless supply of arms, often used in violation of American laws, but this would have been the wrong thing for both America and Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, including avowed Jewish supremacists like Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir who serve as key members in it, is trying to use these weapons to drive Israel down a self-destructive path of endless war. If they succeed, it means that our homeland, our friends and families, will be condemned to an escalating cycle of violence.
In the years since the massacre of Oct. 7, 2023, we have seen an Israeli government that rather than focus on defense of the Israeli people, is focusing on the destruction of the Palestinian people, both in Gaza and in the West Bank.
Senator Ossoff’s votes show us the clear line: He is 100% there in standing with Israelis to defend them from Palestinian terrorism but draws the line at unending immoral wars that aim to destroy all life in Gaza, and with it, any hope for a peaceful future in the region.
What does true support of Israel look like? Is it writing a blank check to Netanyahu, Smotrich, and Ben-Gvir? Should a government that has shown little regard for human life, Israeli or Palestinian, and that is doing all that it can to fan the flames in the region, often against the advice of its own security experts, be supplied with unlimited weapons of destruction?
We believe that Israel needs more friends and allies like Senator Ossoff, siding with those Israelis who want their country to strive for peace and security. To us, Senator Ossoff’s votes represent the exact kind of high-minded, clear-eyed support that both Israelis and Palestinians seeking a future free of war need right now.
Signatories:
- Michal Arbilly
- Asaf Bareket
- Naomi Binenfeld
- Dotan Zebrowitz Harpak
- Tammy Kadish-Harper
- Uriel Kitron
- Sharon Solly-Weinberg
- Gil Weinberg
The authors are Israeli Americans and longtime residents of the Atlanta Metro Area.
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