Orthodox Rabbis Call upon U.S. Congress to
Stop Funding the Genocide in Yemen
As Jewish leaders committed to the Torah and human dignity, we are horrified and appalled at the immense human toll of the Yemeni Civil War. Thousands of innocent men, women and children have been killed, and millions more face slow death by starvation, in a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran about theological issues which the victims neither understand nor had a role in creating or perpetuating.
Our holy Torah, as all ethical theories of just warfare, teaches that it is forbidden to target civilians in warfare. Maimonides famously instructed that rather than slaughter the innocent, the offensive must offer a call for peace. The ongoing genocide in Yemen, conducted in the name of God and targeting civilians, is anything but Godly, and anything but ethical. God on high cries, as do we, over the senseless loss of life.
We support our elected leaders’ pressure on both Saudi Arabia and Iran to seal a cease fire and which will enable as much relief as possible to enter the country and enable its citizens to rebuild their economy. In particular, since Saudi Arabia is our trading partner, we strongly urge our elected leaders to pressure Saudi Prince Salman and stop refueling the Saudi-UAE warplanes that are bombing Yemeni civilians, including children.
Continued U.S. economic support of Saudi Arabia, without a simultaneous challenge to conduct themselves ethically, is enabling the bombing of Yemeni civilians and civilian infrastructure and is pushing millions of people in Yemen into starvation. It is time for Saudi Arabia to live up to Maimonides’ dictum and call for peace, rather than war, to bring stability to the region.
Rabba Dr. Carmella Abraham
Rabbi Dr. David S. Bauman
Rabbi David Bigman
Rabbi Avraham Bronstein
Rabbi Dr. Michael Chernick
Rabbi Barry Dolinger
Rabbi Menashe East
Rabbi Yehoshua Engelman
Rabbi Avidan Freedman
Rabbi Daniel Geretz
Rabbi Dr. Mel Gottlieb
Rabbi Dr. Stuart Grant
Rabbi Steve Greenberg
Rabbi Dr. Yitz Greenberg
Rabbi Ari Hart
Rabbi Tyson Herberger
Rabbi Avram Herzog
Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe
Rabbi David Jaffe
Rabbi David Kalb
Rabbanit Rachel Keren
Rabbanit Batya Krauss
Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz
Rabbi Hayim Leiter
Rabbi Yehoshua Looks
Rabbi Asher Lopatin
Rabbi Jair Melchior
Rabbi Dina Najman
Rabbi Micha Odenheimer
Rabbi David Polsky
Rabbi Avi Poupko
Rabbi Deborah Renert
Rabbi Aviad Sanders
Rabbi Dr. Shalom Schlagman
Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger
Rabbi Gabriel N. Kretzmer Seed
Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller
Rabbi Hyim Shafner
Rabbi Ami Silver
Rabbi Daniel Silverstein
Rabbi Michael Stein
Rabbi Devin Maimon Villarreal
Rabbi Ari Weiss
Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz
Rabbi Dr. Alan Yuter
Rabbi Mordechai Zeller
Rabbi Lawrence Zierler