June 13th, 2025 –
Partners for Progressive Israel expresses grave concern regarding the Israeli attack on Iran, in particular for all civilian parties and peoples in the region, especially in the context of the ongoing brutal war in Gaza and settler outrages in the West Bank. While the destabilizing effects of an Iranian nuclear capability are all too real and concerning, there is no reason to imagine that these attacks, which are announced to continue for weeks, will deter Iran from its nuclear ambitions. As unpopular as its current regime is, it is unlikely that Israel’s attacks will cause its demise, and these attacks may well impel even regime opponents in Iran to pull together in defense of their nation. With all this in mind, we urge all parties to recommit to a diplomatic path forward.
We are also deeply disturbed by reports that some of the Israeli attacks targeted not only military and nuclear sites, but also densely populated neighborhoods in Tehran, leading to the death of a number of civilians, among them children.
These attacks cannot be separated from the Israeli political context. We fear that Netanyahu will use escalating conflict with Iran as a dangerous distraction from ongoing atrocities against Palestinians. Most Israelis now see the continuation of the Gaza War as more connected with Bibi Netanyahu’s personal needs than with those of the State of Israel, and we are concerned that any escalation with Iran will further delay Israel’s internal reckoning with the still uninvestigated negligence that facilitated the Oct. 7th, 2023 attacks by Hamas. We fear that Netanyahu will use this additional war as a dangerous distraction from ongoing atrocities against Palestinians.
Sadly, we can expect an increase in the already rapid pace of land grabs and settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, instigated or ordered by Ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. Their goals of annexation and ethnic cleansing will only be strengthened by today’s events. Additional military hostilities create further precarity for the remaining hostages and starving Gazan civilians, and we strongly condemn both the internet blackout in Gaza and the sealing of West Bank checkpoints that have accompanied the news of the last day.
While President Trump has commendably attempted to reach a deal with Iran in place of the JCPOA – which he tore up in 2018 – his suggestion this morning that Israel’s attacks might increase Iran’s willingness to reach a deal with the US is deeply unrealistic. Clearly the US is rightly concerned that these may include attacks against American interests or personnel, as demonstrated by its pulling out diplomatic personnel all over the region.
PPI Board President Paul Scham said, “Bibi Netanyahu has set Israel on a highly dangerous course whose end cannot even be imagined, in defiance of an international community, apparently even including the U.S., united against this escalation. President Trump and his administration are weak reeds to lean on, but we hope against hope that in this case his self-vaunted negotiation skills are utilized in the cause of diminishing the demons that have been unleashed.”
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