The American Jewish Congress condemns in the strongest possible terms the rocket attacks being conducted against Israeli civilians from the Gaza Strip by the terrorist organizations Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Hamas and the PIJ are to blame for this dangerous and unprovoked aggression. We stand with Israel and strongly support its inherent right to defend itself and its citizens against these unprovoked attacks.
We therefore call on both the Biden Administration and the international community to assign clear blame for this violence onto these terrorist organizations while making every possible effort to deescalate the situation.
These cynical attacks have taken advantage of a political vacuum in Palestinian politics and are inflicting severe material damage and loss of life on blameless civilians. More than 1,100 rockets have been fired from Gaza towards Israeli civilian population centers. Of these, nearly 200 have landed inside Gaza itself, directly harming the Palestinian civilians that Hamas and PIJ claim to defend. Every effort should be made to return life to normal for the millions of Israelis and Palestinians affected by this senseless violence.
We are also grateful to successive American administrations – Democratic and Republican – for their commitment to the Iron Dome air defense system, which was begun during the Obama-Biden Administration with strong bipartisan Congressional support. This system has successfully destroyed 90% of the missiles emanating from the Gaza Strip, saving countless civilian lives of both Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel. We call on Congress to pass emergency funding for the additional production of Iron Dome systems so that Israel can be fully protected across the entirety of its country.
