The planned sanctions by the United States against the Israeli group Tzav 9 (Order 9) should spark outrage from all who cherish democracy in Israel, regardless of political affiliation.
In an egregious overreach, the Biden administration is infringing on the bedrock principles of free speech and the right to protest, and cracking down on a legitimate protest movement committed to preventing aid from enabling the enemy (Hamas) at a time of war.
Tzav 9 comprises thousands of Israelis from all walks of life, including families of hostages held by Hamas, bereaved families of terror victims and even former members of the pro-Gaza disengagement Kaplan Force who now recognize the folly of empowering the terrorist rulers of Gaza.
They have unified behind a crucial demand: As long as Hamas refuses to release innocent civilian hostages, humanitarian aid must not reach its murderous grasp. And reach its grasp it does!
Ample evidence of aid exploitation
Extensive documentation confirms that vital supplies Israel is being forced to transfer to Gaza indeed reach Hamas terrorists and abet their war efforts against Israel—killing IDF soldiers, firing rockets on civilian areas, operating terror tunnels and indefinitely detaining hostages.
Any individual who claims to uphold Israeli democracy, whether an Israeli citizen or a meddling American diplomat, is ethically obligated to condemn the Biden administration’s actions, which injure the hostages’ families, Israeli sovereignty, human rights and the very concept of liberty America purports to champion globally.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken himself vowed that the U.S. would condemn Hamas for any attempt to “seize the aid itself” instead of allowing it to reach civilians. Yet the administration now reprehensibly targets Israelis working to uphold that very principle.
Curbing legitimate protests
In threatening sanctions against Tzav 9’s crucial protests and legal efforts to block aid truck access, the U.S. actively enables the same dictatorial repression of free expression it publicly derides in nations like Russia and China. This hypocrisy undermines Washington’s credibility as a global leader on human rights and democratic values.
Tzav 9’s volunteers have taken a courageous moral stand in obstructing the unconscionable flow of aid to Hamas terrorists amid active violence against Israelis. They deserve praise from any true champion of freedom, human rights and democratic self-determination—the very principles America’s sanctions upon them so alarmingly betray.
By impeding aid trucks, this movement preserves the last shred of honor for two nations tragically complicit in empowering a ruthless enemy in wartime. It is Tzav 9 that upholds human decency, not its misguided antagonists.
