(RNS) — President Donald Trump’s announcement more than a week ago that he wanted the United States to take over the Gaza Strip and drive its Palestinian residents to neighboring countries initially stunned many American Jewish groups and leaders into silence.
But slowly, they are beginning to weigh in.
In a full-page ad in The New York Times Thursday (Feb. 13), some 350 rabbis and a host of Jewish celebrities condemned the plan. The ad read: “Trump has called for the removal of all Palestinians from Gaza. Jewish people say NO to ethnic cleansing!”
Over the course of the week, the two largest American Jewish denominations, the Reform and Conservative movements, also issued statements objecting to Trump’s plan. The Rabbinical Assembly, representing the Conservative movement, said the plan was “anathema to Jewish values and international human rights law.” The Union for Reform Judaism said emptying Gaza was “neither an acceptable strategic nor moral action.”
Still, establishment American Jewish organizations have issued neutral non-statements. And several of the big Jewish institutions, which typically offer unqualified support for Israel, were mum.
Palestinians return to northern Gaza, amid destroyed buildings, following Israel’s decision to allow thousands of them to return for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The American Jewish Committee, a staunch supporter of Israel, issued a statement saying the president’s plan raises “a wealth of questions.” In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Jason Isaacson, AJC’s chief policy adviser, called the plan “a dramatic out-of-the-box attempt to shake up the regional dynamic.”
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The Anti-Defamation League said on X that “US involvement — in coordination with Israel and regional partners — will be essential for long term rebuilding and governance of Gaza. However, any plan must take into account Israel’s security needs and the well-being of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Jewish Federations of North America and AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group, have not publicly responded to the Gaza proposal.
“It feels like we’re really in a crisis of leadership at the moment,” said Rabbi Toba Spitzer, of Congregation Dorshei Tzedek, a Reconstructionist Jewish congregation in West Newton, Massachusetts. “That’s why in a really short period of time, without a lot of outreach, this ad is getting people signing on. There’s really a vacuum.”
A full-page ad in the New York Times on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, says “Trump has called for the removal of all Palestinians from Gaza. Jewish people say NO to ethnic cleansing!” (Photo via X/@JFREJNYC)
Spitzer was among the hundreds of rabbis — representing most Jewish denominations — who signed The New York Times ad.
Actors, directors and writers, including Joaquin Phoenix and his siblings Summer and Rain, Ilana Glazer, Eric André, Morgan Spector and Tony Kushner also signed the ad, as did journalists Peter Beinart and Naomi Klein.
The ad was funded by progressive donors who are part of the “In Our Name Campaign,” a group of Jewish philanthropists who seek to raise $10 million for organizations that “support Palestinian-led efforts to build safety, dignity and self-determination in Palestine,” according to its website.
J Street, the liberal advocacy group that promotes a “pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy” stance, was one of the first to condemn the Gaza plan last week, saying on social media that Trump’s proposal was “absolutely unacceptable.”
On the Jewish right, the Zionist Organization of America described the plan as “brilliant and courageous,” praising its mastermind as “the Winston Churchill of our time.” Many leading Israeli politicians also welcomed Trump’s plan.
In the middle, mainstream Jewish leaders, such as a Conservative rabbi, are finding the plan distasteful.
“When it comes to ethnic cleansing, Jews are extremely sensitive. They tried to ethnic cleanse us plenty of times,” said Rabbi Stephen Grundfast, rabbi emeritus of Beth El Congregation, a Conservative synagogue in Akron, Ohio, who signed the ad. “Even though Hamas is detestable and disgusting, at the same time, it’s wrong to tell an entire people that you have to leave.”
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