Hundreds of rabbis demand Israel stop ‘using starvation as a weapon of war’

Hundreds of rabbis worldwide have signed a letter calling for Israel to stop using starvation as a “weapon of war,” bring home the hostages and end the fighting in Gaza.

The letter, posted Friday and featuring the names of several leading rabbis across denominations, said the “Jewish People face a grave moral crisis.”

Its signatories, the text read, “are deeply committed to the wellbeing of Israel and the Jewish People,” but “cannot keep silent” in the face of Gaza’s growing death toll and rising malnutrition.

The letter was published as global concern intensified over mounting reports of starvation and lack of food in the war-torn enclave. It is one of the most prominent examples of Jewish and pro-Israel leaders publicly endorsing those concerns and demanding that Israel address them.

“We recognize, and many of us endure, the huge challenges the State of Israel relentlessly confronts, surrounded for so long by enemies and facing existential threats from many quarters,” the letter said.

The signatories also said they “unequivocally support” Israel’s battle against Hamas and Hezbollah and understand the IDF’s policy of protecting its soldiers’ lives.

“But we cannot condone the mass killings of civilians, including a great many women, children and elderly, or the use of starvation as a weapon of war,” the letter continued. “The severe limitation placed on humanitarian relief in Gaza, and the policy of withholding of food, water, and medical supplies from a needy civilian population contradict essential values of Judaism as we understand it.”

The Hamas-run health ministry has said deaths from hunger are rising sharply in Gaza. Hundreds of aid groups have called the situation a humanitarian catastrophe and called on Israel to let in more supplies, and dozens of world leaders have called on Israel to end the war.

Israeli authorities have pushed back on those claims, denying that the IDF is causing starvation in the Strip and blaming the United Nations and Hamas for the obstacles in providing aid to civilians there.

But in response to the international outcry, the government took several steps to increase the flow of supplies on Sunday, including airdrops, the opening of new corridors for aid and 10-hour pauses in fighting in certain locations to ensure the aid is delivered.

The letter, published before Israel announced those policies, was written by Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, the senior rabbi of Masorti Judaism in the United Kingdom; Rabbi Arthur Green, a prominent scholar of Jewish mysticism and a former leader of Hebrew College in Boston; and Rabbi Ariel Pollak of Kehilat Sinai, a Masorti synagogue in Tel Aviv.

The bulk of the rabbis’ letter focused on Israeli policy in Gaza, and called on Israel to “stop at once the use and threat of starvation as a weapon of war,” and to let in “extensive humanitarian aid” while working to prevent Hamas from stealing it.

It also demanded that Israel “work urgently by all routes possible to bring home all the hostages and end the fighting.”

Most rabbis who signed the letter reside in the US, with only a few dozen signatories from Israel.

Among the letter’s prominent signatories were Rabbi Sharon Brous, who runs the IKAR nondenominational synagogue in Los Angeles; rabbi and writer Irwin Kula; Chaim Seidler-Feller, a longtime Hillel rabbi who now teaches at the Shalom Hartman Institute; Rachel Timoner, a Reform rabbi from New York; and Marc D. Angel, a liberal Orthodox rabbi.

Repeated surveys have shown that most Israelis support an agreement that would free the remaining 50 hostages held by Hamas at the price of ending the war, but negotiations in Qatar between the two sides broke down last week.

The letter was published as at least two major American Jewish groups have publicly rejected extremist rhetoric about Gaza.

On Tuesday, the American Jewish Committee criticized Rep. Randy Fine, a Jewish Florida Republican who posted to X: “Release the hostages. Until then, starve away.” The organization responded that “implying that starvation is a legitimate tactic is unacceptable.”

The serious humanitarian situation in Gaza must not be taken lightly, especially by those at the highest levels of government.

Implying that starvation is a legitimate tactic is unacceptable.

All those in need of humanitarian aid should receive it promptly and safely. Our… https://t.co/GRjD33AEMu

— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) July 23, 2025

The Anti-Defamation League said Friday last week that Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu’s statement that the government is “racing ahead for Gaza to be wiped out” is “morally repugnant and strategically reckless.”

The rabbis’ letter criticized Israeli policy in the West Bank as well, urging the government to “use the forces of law and order to end settler violence on the West Bank and vigorously investigate and prosecute settlers who harass and assault Palestinians.”

It said Israeli officials and groups shared part of the blame for the present situation, and called for dialogue toward “security for Israel, dignity and hope for Palestinians, and a viable peaceful future for all the region.”

“Repeated statements of intention and actions by ministers in the Israeli government, by some officers in the Israeli army, and the behavior of criminally violent settler groups in the West Bank, often with police and military support, have been major factors in bringing us to this crisis,” it said.

“The killing of huge numbers of Palestinians in Gaza, including those desperately seeking food, has been widely reported across respectable media and cannot reasonably be denied,” said the rabbis.