Beyza Binnur Donmez
22 October 2025•Update: 23 October 2025
GENEVA
Hundreds of Jewish public figures worldwide have appealed to the UN and global leaders to impose sanctions on Israel for "unconscionable" acts in the Gaza Strip that amount to genocide, The Guardian reported Wednesday.
An open letter signed by more than 450 individuals, including former Israeli officials, writers and award-winning artists, demands accountability for Israel’s actions in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
"We have not forgotten that so many of the laws, charters, and conventions established to safeguard and protect all human life were created in response to the Holocaust," it said. "Those safeguards have been relentlessly violated by Israel."
Among the signatories are former Israeli Knesset speaker Avraham Burg, peace negotiator Daniel Levy, authors Michael Rosen and Naomi Klein, filmmaker Jonathan Glazer and actors Wallace Shawn and Ilana Glazer.
The appeal urged governments to respect rulings of international courts, stop the transfer of arms, enforce targeted sanctions and ensure humanitarian access to Gaza. It denounces "false claims of antisemitism against those advocating for peace and justice."
"We bow our heads in immeasurable sorrow as the evidence accumulates that Israel’s actions will be judged to have met the legal definition of genocide," said the letter.
The Guardian noted that recent polls show growing concern among US Jews, with 61% saying Israel has committed war crimes and 39% believing it is committing genocide.
"Our solidarity with Palestinians is not a betrayal of Judaism, then, but a fulfillment of it," the letter added.
Since October 2023, the Israeli war in Gaza has killed more than 68,200 people and injured over 170,300, according to the Palestine Health Ministry.
