10/22/2025October 22, 2025Prominent Jewish figures call for UN sanctions on Israel
Hundreds of prominent Jewish figures have signed an open letter calling on the United Nations and countries around the world to impose sanctions on Israel due to “unconscionable” conduct in Gaza, Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank which they say amounts to “genocide.”
“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,” reads the letter, which was reported by the British newspaper The Guardian on Wednesday.
Among the 450 signatories are the former speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Avraham Burg, former Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy, Oscar-winning film-maker Jonathan Glazer, American actor Wallace Shawn, British author Michael Rosen, Canadian author Naomi Klein, Pulitzer prize-winning author Benjamin Moser and Emmy winners Ilana Glazer and Hannah Einbinder.
“Our solidarity with Palestinians is not a betrayal of Judaism, but a fulfillment of it,” the signatories write. “When our sages taught that to destroy one life is to destroy an entire world, they did not carve exceptions for Palestinians. We shall not rest until this ceasefire carries forward into an end of occupation and apartheid.”
The appeal comes ahead of a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels on Thursday, where reports suggest plans to sanction Israel could be shelved.
It also comes as opinion among both Jews and non-Jews in the United States has shifted since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, launched in response to the deadly Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
According to a Washington Post poll conducted in September, 61% of American Jews believe that Israel has committed war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza, while 39% think it has committed genocide.
“We do not forget that so many of the laws, charters, and conventions established to safeguard and protect all human life were created in response to the Holocaust,” reads the open letter. “Those safeguards have been relentlessly violated by Israel.”