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Jewish and Israeli Leading Figures Call for Israel Sanctions, Accountability for Alleged ‘Violations of International Law’
Jewish director Jonathan Glazer poses with the Oscar for Best International Feature Film for “The Zone of Interest” in the Oscars photo room at the 96th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, March 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Dozens of leading Jews and Israelis in the entertainment industry published an open letter this week that calls on world leaders to hold Israel’s leadership accountable for “violations of international law.”
The open letter, posted on Tuesday under the banner “Jews Demand Action,” is addressed to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, “presidents, prime ministers, heads of state and permanent representatives to the United Nations.”
The prominent Jewish and Israeli members of Hollywood requested that world leaders “turn the ceasefire into a just and lasting peace, ending Israel’s system of occupation and apartheid and thereby guaranteeing the future well-being of Palestinians and Israelis alike.”
“Apply the necessary pressure, end impunity, and hold Israel’s leadership accountable for its violations of international law. We come together to reclaim a Jewish ethic that is universal, learns from our history and guides our tomorrow,” they wrote. “Accountability for the Israeli leadership’s grievous violations of international law is necessary. It is time to do everything possible to definitively end the Israeli government’s collective punishment of the Palestinians and to pursue peace for the sake of both peoples … The monumental scale of the killing and destruction, the forced displacement, the deliberate withholding of life-sustaining necessities, and the ongoing criminal actions in the West Bank must end and never be repeated.”
Oscar-winning directors Jonathan Glazer and Yuval Abraham are among the many who signed the open letter, which also expressed support for the recent Israel-Hamas ceasefire, and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners. The group said it hopes the ceasefire would “end daily killing, destruction, displacement, and starvation in Gaza.”
“And yet there should be no doubt that this ceasefire is fragile,” they added. “Israeli forces remain in Gaza, the agreement makes no reference to the West Bank, the underlying conditions of occupation, apartheid, and the denial of Palestinian rights remain unaddressed.”
“It was international pressure that helped to secure this ceasefire, and it must be sustained to guarantee that it endures,” the group noted. “The ceasefire must be the beginning, not the end. The risk of reverting to a political reality of indifference to occupation and permanent conflict is too great. This same pressure must be continued to deliver a new era of peace and justice for all, Palestinians and Israelis alike.”
Others who signed the open letter include Emmy-winning actresses Hannah Einbinder and Ilana Glazer; author Gabor Maté; actors Morgan Spector and Wallace Shawn; Israeli comedian and activist Noam Shuster-Eliassi; and producers James Schamus and Libby Lenkinski. Daniel Levy; Lenkinski; Israeli author and businessman Avrum Burg; journalist Peter Beinart; Belgian politician Simone Susskind; and writer and activist Em Hilton initiated the open letter. Its publication comes two weeks after the ceasefire deal for the Israel-Hamas war took effect on Oct. 10. The two-year war started following the Hamas-led deadly terrorist attack in southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken as hostages back to the Gaza Strip.
“The need for redress long predates October 7th, 2023. The crimes committed by Hamas and other armed factions on that day horrified us. The Israeli actions that followed were unconscionable,” the letter further stated. The group also condemned Israeli leaders for justifying Israel’s military actions in Gaza during the war. “Israeli leaders have repeatedly taken to the world stage to declare that these actions are committed in the name of the Jewish people, as a manifestation of Jewish destiny. The Israeli government may claim to speak on behalf of the Jewish collective, but it does not speak for us,” they said.
The signatories stated that many aspects of international law protecting human life were originally created in response to the Holocaust. “Those safeguards have been relentlessly violated by Israel,” they claimed. “Accountability for the Israeli leadership’s grievous violations of international law is necessary. It is time to do everything possible to definitively end the Israeli government’s collective punishment of the Palestinians and to pursue peace for the sake of both peoples.”
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Pope Leo Says Those Who Wage War Are Thieves Stealing Away Our Peaceful Future
Pope Leo XIV looks on as he meets with Catholic religious education teachers attending a national meeting organised by the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, April 25, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi
Pope Leo on Sunday described those who wage wars and appropriate the earth’s resources as thieves who rob the world of a peaceful future, issuing a warning about the use of nuclear power on the anniversary of the Chernobyl reactor accident.
Ukraine is commemorating the 40th anniversary of the world’s worst nuclear disaster on Sunday amid lingering fears that Russia’s four-year-old war could spark a repeat of the tragedy.
In his weekly address after the Angelus prayer, the Pontiff said the Chernobyl accident had left a mark on humankind’s collective conscience.
“It remains a warning over the use of ever more powerful technologies,” the Pope, who has just returned from a 10-day tour across four African nations, said.
“I hope that at all decision-making levels, wisdom and responsibility always prevail, so that atomic power can always be used to support life and peace,” he added.
Commenting on the Gospel of the day, which contained the metaphor of a sheep thief, Pope Leo said thieves came under many appearances, listing as examples “superficial lifestyles driven by consumerism,” prejudices and wrong ideas.
“And let’s not forget also those thieves who, by plundering the earth’s resources, by fighting bloody wars or feeding evil in whichever form, are simply taking away from all of us the chance of a future of peace and serenity,” he added.
Leo, the first US pontiff, has attracted the ire of President Donald Trump after becoming more outspoken against war and despotism.
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UK’s Starmer and Trump Discuss ‘Urgent Need’ to Restore Shipping in Strait of Hormuz
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump (not pictured) hold a bilateral meeting at Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Britain, July 28, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump discussed the urgent need to get shipping moving again in the Strait of Hormuz during a call on Sunday, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
“The leaders discussed the urgent need to get shipping moving again in the Strait of Hormuz, given the severe consequences for the global economy and cost of living for people in the UK and globally,” the spokesperson for Starmer’s office said in a statement.
“The prime minister shared the latest progress on his joint initiative with President (Emmanuel) Macron to restore freedom of navigation,” the spokesperson added.
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Palestinian Leader’s Loyalists Win Local Elections, Including Some Seats in Gaza
A Palestinian man votes during the municipal election at a polling station in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip April 25, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Loyalists of President Mahmoud Abbas won most races in Palestinian municipal elections, election officials said on Sunday, in a vote that for the first time in nearly two decades included a city in the Gaza Strip run by rival Hamas.
Saturday’s ballot marked the first elections of any kind in Gaza since 2006 and the first Palestinian polls since the Gaza war began more than two years ago with Hamas’ cross‑border attack on southern Israel.
Abbas’ West Bank–based Palestinian Authority (PA) said the inclusion of the Gaza city Deir al‑Balah, which suffered less damage than other areas of the coastal territory during the war, was intended to show that Gaza was an inseparable part of a future Palestinian state.
The elections, in which voter turnout was low, had been held “at a highly sensitive moment amid complex challenges and exceptional circumstances,” Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said as results were announced on Sunday.
But they represented “an important first step in a broader national process aimed at strengthening democratic life … and ultimately achieving the unity of the homeland,” he said.
POSSIBLE INDICATOR OF HAMAS SUPPORT
Hamas, which ousted the PA from Gaza in 2007, did not formally nominate candidates in Gaza and boycotted the race in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Fatah’s victory was widely expected.
But some candidates on one of the Deir al-Balah lists were widely seen by residents and analysts as aligned with the movement, making the vote a potential indicator of support for the Islamist group.
Preliminary results showed that the list, known as Deir al‑Balah Brings Us Together, won only two of the 15 seats contested in Gaza.
The Nahdat Deir al‑Balah list, backed by Abbas’ Fatah party and the Western-backed PA, secured six seats. The remaining seats were won by two other Gaza-based groups, Future of Deir al‑Balah and Peace and Building, not affiliated with either faction.
Abbas loyalists swept the election in the West Bank, running unchallenged in many seats.
Fatah spokesperson Abdul Fattah Dawla noted that turnout was close to that for the last municipal elections in the West Bank, in 2022, praising voters for participating despite ongoing violence by Israel.
“By electing figures linked to Fatah, voters appear to be seeking unrestricted international support for municipal governance and a gradual political shift that could extend beyond the local level,” said Palestinian political analyst Reham Ouda.
The recent war has left much of Gaza reduced to rubble, with many residents displaced and focused on survival. Israel has continued conducting strikes despite an October ceasefire.
In Gaza, voter turnout reached just 23 percent, while in the West Bank it was 56 percent, according to Chairman of the Central Elections Commission Rami al‑Hamdallah.
Al‑Hamdallah said some of the ballot boxes and voting equipment did not make it into the enclave because of Israeli security restrictions, though those challenges were overcome.
Hamas’ Gaza spokesperson, Hazem Qassem, downplayed the significance of the election results, saying that they had no impact on wider national issues.