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‘A Strong Israel Is Vital to the United States’: 94 Former US Military Generals, Admirals Sign Letter Supporting Jewish State
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin meets with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon in Washington, US, March 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
More than 90 retired US military generals and admirals have signed a new letter released this week in support of Israel and a strong US-Israel relationship amid heightened tensions between the Biden administration and the Jewish state.
Organized by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), the letter focused on the adverse consequences of weakening the US-Israel alliance.
“Given our experience as retired American military leaders,” the letter reads, “we are very concerned about the security impacts of increasingly strained US-Israel ties as Israel becomes a growing source of domestic division. We therefore feel compelled to declare that a strong Israel is vital to the United States national security, and it is imperative that America unequivocally stand by this indispensable ally.”
In recent months, the relationship between Israel’s government and the US under President Joe Biden has become strained due to disagreements over whether the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) should launch a large-scale offensive in the Gaza city of Rafah, the fact that the US has primarily put pressure to achieve a hostage and ceasefire deal on Israel rather than Hamas, and — most importantly — the Biden administration holding up weapons shipments to the Jewish state. Threatening sanctions on an IDF unit and sanctioning certain settlers in the West Bank have exacerbated tensions further.
Now, according to recent comments from senior US officials, there is growing doubt in the Biden administration over whether it is possible for Israel to achieve “total victory” against Hamas, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu often describes his country’s war goals.
Apart from the weakening relationship diplomatically, the war has also been incredibly divisive among US voters. While most people have indicated the Israel-Hamas war is not an issue that will determine the candidate they vote for, large rallies, congressional hearings, and pro-Hamas encampments on college campuses have ignited a heated national debate.
These tensions are concerning because they put into jeopardy Israel and the US’s mutually beneficial relationship, the letter says. “Our militaries work hand in glove, sharing intelligence and military lessons, and co-developing cutting-edge defense technologies,” the retired military leaders argue.
“More than any other American ally, Israel has always sought to defend itself by itself,” they note. “Still, US forces recently helped defend Israel against an Iranian onslaught. Israel’s military and intelligence services have also often protected US soldiers and citizens and provided critical intelligence.”
The letter continues: “America must support Israel as it restores its security, shattered on Oct. 7, against Iran and its terrorist proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen that all seek to destroy the Jewish state. These forces are also enemies of the United States and everything we stand for.”
Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that rules Gaza, receives significant military and financial support from Iran.
A key reason to support Israel, the letter argues, is that these are the enemies of not only Israel but also the West more broadly: “Against these barbaric enemies, Israel stands on the front lines of the fight for civilization, the lone stable, democratic American ally in a critical, yet tumultuous, region. Israel is a visceral part of the West with its liberal democracy, ethnically diverse population, and support for individual rights.”
The letter comes amid growing pressure on Biden to continue to enact more policies critical of Israel in response to the IDF’s response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of southern Israel, where Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and abducted over 250 others as hostages. In March, almost 70 former US officials and diplomats wrote a letter urging Biden to take a harder line on Israel, arguing in part that the Israeli military campaign was a disproportionate overreaction.
Israel has said it seeks to free the hostages taken to Gaza and to incapacitate Hamas to the point that it can no longer pose a threat to the Israeli people from the neighboring Palestinian enclave.
Despite the current political environment, the new letter coordinated by JINSA aims to “reaffirm our friendship and bond with the State of Israel — and urge all Americans to stand by our close friend and partner.”
The post ‘A Strong Israel Is Vital to the United States’: 94 Former US Military Generals, Admirals Sign Letter Supporting Jewish State first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.