July 23, 2024

The Honorable Mike Johnson

Speaker

U.S. House of Representatives

H-232, The Capitol

Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Chuck Schumer

Majority Leader

U.S. Senate

S-221, The Capitol

Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries

Democratic Leader

U.S. House of Representatives

H-204, The Capitol

Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Mitch McConnell

Minority Leader

U.S. Senate

S-230, The Capitol

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Speaker Johnson, Leader Jeffries, Majority Leader Schumer, and Leader McConnell,

The United States and Israel’s strong relationship, which is anchored in our shared values and common interests, has endured for nearly a century, and must be fortified for generations to come. We always have and always will value and appreciate the immutable bond between Israel and America and we believe it is vital for the security of both nations that this friendship remains strong.

As a bipartisan group of leaders who have served the State of Israel for decades - in the defense establishment, industry, academic, legal and public service sectors - we write to you with grave concerns about Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to the United States and the damage it may do to our joint objectives.

  1. This visit prioritizes his personal political survivability over our shared interests. Netanyahu has lost the support of the Israeli people and is trying to shore up his domestic coalition through a show of force in the United States.

  1. Congress will be hosting a leader without a mandate and one who is facing prosecution for major crimes. Netanyahu has an unprecedented legal conflict of interest with the State of Israel. He is facing a criminal trial for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. He is also under formal investigation and, more recently, received an official warning letter by the State Commission of Inquiry for alleged personal wrongdoing and state security obstruction in an extremely sensitive matter concerning Israel's national security, known as the “Submarines Affair.”

  1. He remains unwilling to conceptualize a post-war plan, and continues destabilizing the national security of both Israel and the U.S. He bears responsibility for the war due to his failed risk assessment of the Gaza border by relocating needed forces in support of his messianic political partners’ demands, and his longtime reckless support of building up Hamas to counter the Palestinian Authority. He alone is to blame for a lack of victory over Hamas as a result of his resistance to a set of National Strategic Goals for the war.

We cannot overstate this: Prime Minister Netanyahu poses an existential threat to the State of Israel. He has no clear strategic objectives for the war in Gaza, no plan for the day after, nor a strategy for how to deal with the existential threat of Iran. For decades, he has been inciting Israelis against each other, damaging our national social fabric, dramatically harming our defense capabilities, eroding our economy and devastating our international standing.

Further, Netanyahu severely harms the US national security interests through his approach to this war, which adversely impacts American policy in the Middle East and beyond and further endangers Israel.

We thank you for your continued support and urge you to remain stalwart allies of Israel and encourage Prime Minister Netanyahu to put the safety, security and future of Israel and the Israeli-US strategic relations before his own political and personal interests. Our safety and security depend on it – as does yours.

Respectfully,


Senior officials of Israel's security establishment over the past decades*: 

  1. Lt. General (Ret.) Dan Haloutz – Former IDF’s Chief of Staff
  2. Mr. Tamir Pardo – Former Director of the Mossad
  3. Lt. General (Ret.) Moshe (Bogie) Ya’alon – Former Defense Minister & IDF’s Chief of Staff
  4. Major General (Ret.) Ilan Biran  – Former Director of the Ministry of Defense, Former Chairman of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd.
  5. Major General (Ret.) Matan Vilnai – Former IDF Deputy Chief of Staff, Former Ambassador of Israel to China
  6. Prof. Uzi Arad – Former Head of the National Security Council
  7. Mr. David Meidan – Former Division Director in the Mossad
  8. Mr. Yehiam Mart – Former Division Director in the Mossad
  9. Mr. Haim Tomer – Former Division Director in the Mossad
  10. Major General (Ret.) Amnon Reshef – Former Commanding General of the Armored Corps
  11. Mr. Arie Pelman – Former Deputy Director of the Shin Bet
  12. Mr. Naftali Granot  – Former Deputy Director of the Mossad
  13. Brigadier General (Ret.) Amal Asad – Former Commander of District Coordination and Liaison
  14. Brigadier General (Ret.) Dovik Tamari – Former Commander of the IDF Command and Staff College
  15. Colonel (Ret.) Itamar Yaar – Former Deputy Head of the National Security Council
  16. Mr. Eran Etzion  – Former Deputy Head of the National Security Council
  17. Adv. Eli Bahar – Former General Counsel and Head of Legal Division of the Shin-Bet
  18. Major General (Ret.) Uri Sagi – Former IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate

Senior executives of Israel’s industries, ambassadors, senior members of Israel’s academy, and business leaders over the past decades:

  1. Prof. Aaron Ciechanover – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry 2004, Israel Prize Laureate in Biology 2003
  2. Prof Avishay Braverman – Israel Prize Laureate for Lifetime  Achievement 2020, Former President of  Ben Gurion University
  3. Prof. Gabriela Shalev – Former Ambassador of Israel to the United Nations
  4. Dr. Jeremy Levin – Chairman Emeritus of BIO, Former CEO Teva Pharmaceuticals
  5. Colonel (Ret.) Jacob (Kobi) Richter – Medinol Ltd. and Orbotek Ltd. Co-Founder
  6. Mr. Morris Kahn – Entrepreneur & Philanthropist
  7. Mr. Orni Petruschka – Hi-Tech Entrepreneur
  8. Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari – Former Vice-President of the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
  9. Mr. Alon Pinkas – Former Consul General of Israel in New York City
  10. Prof. Rivka Carmi – MD, former President of Ben Gurion University
  11. Adv. Dina Zilber – Former Deputy of the Attorney General of Israel
  12. Adv. Talia Sasson – Former Director of Special Tasks Department in the State Attorney’s Office
  13. Dr. Ilan Samish – Founder and CEO of Amai Proteins
  14. Adv. Moshe Gavish – Former Director of Israel Tax Authority, Former Chairman of Mercantile Bank
  15. Colonel (Ret.) Mordechai (Moudi) Ben-Shach – Former CEO / Co-Owner Paz Oil Company

* Some of the signors added their signature after the letter had been originally sent

APPENDIX

We are extremely concerned with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s continued leadership and believe he represents an existential threat to Israel for the following reasons:

  1. Netanyahu's Strategy and His Role in the October 7th Massacre. For years Netanyahu has implemented a strategy designed to strengthen and build up Hamas in Gaza while weakening the Palestinian Authority since creating two Palestinian rival parties would have exempted him from negotiating any political solutions with the Palestinians. His strategy included channeling hundreds of millions of US dollars annually (in aggregate billions of US dollars) to Hamas delivered in suitcases of cash from Qatar via Israel. This flawed strategic policy directly led to the event of October 7th and the massacre of over 1200 Israelis, many of whom were burned and raped and the thousands of others who were wounded in their attack. By taking the actions he did to build up and support Hamas, Netanyahu bears the main responsibility for enabling the events on October 7th. Most significantly, he minimized security along the forty-mile Gaza border by deliberately deploying only two IDF battalions, while at the same time positioning dozens of other battalions in Judea and Samaria at the request of his messianic political partners. The lack of a meaningful Israeli military force on the border was the main reason for the “success” of the Hamas attack and the subsequent slaughter and rape of Israelis.

  1. Netanyahu's Role in the Ongoing Conflict with Hamas and the Hostage Crisis. Netanyahu bears the main responsibility for the lack of victory over Hamas in Gaza and the continued hostage crisis. Israel has always prioritized the release of captives and the return of bodies for burial. As of today, Hamas is still holding 120 hostages, including Americans, in horrific conditions. Netanyahu obstructed a war strategy for their release, prevented an essential discussion of National Strategic Goals for the war, and abandoned the abductees in Gaza. With his messianic partners, he is dragging Israel and the USA into an endless war with Hamas, Hezbollah and potentially with other enemies in the region. His call for “war to an ultimate victory" lacks specifics and a strategy for winning the fight.  Hamas will not be eradicated or neutralized as long as Netanyahu is Prime Minister.

  1. Netanyahu’s Leadership Threatens the Longstanding Bipartisan Support for Israel in the U.S. We are concerned by the tone and approach adopted by Netanyahu, which now permeates parts of the Hebrew media, where Netanyahu's close advisors express support for one US party over another. Netanyahu's supporters travel to the US, speak at synagogues, and promote these views behind closed doors with the intent to influence American voters. We fear that injecting divisive political views into the United States during national elections, not only poses an immediate risk to Israel but also jeopardizes the long-term strategic interests of both Israel and the USA. This undermines the trust built up over decades by successive administrations in both countries.

  1. Netanyahu’s motivation to continue the war is related to his unprecedented legal conflicts of interest within the State of Israel. In addition to his criminal trial for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, the State Commission of Inquiry is investigating his deeds in the extremely sensitive matter concerning Israel’s national security, known as the “Submarines Affair.” On June 24, 2024, Netanyahu was sent a warning letter indicating that he may be adversely affected by non-conclusive findings that he allegedly “led to a deep and systematic obstruction of the work processes and force-building, as well as harm to decision-making mechanisms in a series of sensitive issues. In doing so, he endangered state security and impaired Israel’s foreign relations and economic interests. These accusations are unprecedented in their severity. Never in the history of State Commissions of Inquiry in Israel has such a serious warning been brought up against a Prime Minister or any other senior political or defense leader. The following links, transmitted via the email version of this letter, contain the English Translation of the Commission’s Warning Letters, the Warning Letters Executive Summary, and Key Affidavits filed with Israel Supreme Court.