Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Jim Himes (D-Conn.) Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) led 99 other House Democratic colleagues in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday asking the premier to halt plans to demolish the Bedouin Arab village of Umm Al-Kheir, south of Hebron.
“We are gravely concerned that any further actions by settlers, vigilantes or the government to destroy the village of Umm Al-Kheir will traumatize this peaceful community and jeopardize the prospect of long-term peace, mutual security and self-determination for Israelis and Palestinians at this critical moment,” wrote the members, who were joined largely by left-leaning and left-wing colleagues.
Raskin, Nadler, Jacobs and Goldman are Jewish.
“As supporters of Israeli democracy who have voted to defend your nation against its enemies and to warn it away from the path of settler extremism and fanaticism, we trust you will understand the importance and enormity of this matter,” the members of Congress wrote.
The village was the site where Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen, 31, was killed earlier this year. Yinon Levi, whom the Biden administration sanctioned for alleged violence, claims that he killed Hathaleen in self-defense.
The Israeli government plans to demolish homes and a community center, among other buildings, in the village. The government says the structures were built without permits.
“These demolitions would make vulnerable families homeless, including elderly people and children, just as the chill of winter descends on this desert community,” the legislators wrote. “This action, in service of making room for more settlers, settlements and land only for Israelis, would be cruel, unjustified and in naked violation of international law.”
The letter, addressed to Netanyahu’s office in “Jerusalem, Israel,” was endorsed by left-wing American lobby group J Street.
