Text of letter from members of US Congress to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 23 January 2024
January 23, 2024
The Honorable Antony J. Blinken Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520
Dear Secretary Blinken,
South Africa has filed a grossly unfounded case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Israel of genocide and asking the court to order Israel to immediately halt its military efforts in Gaza. We write to you to express our disgust at this filing, which perpetrates false and dangerous allegations against the Jewish state.
We share the administration’s position that Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas terror and appreciate the strong statement of National Security Council spokesman John Kirby that the South African application is “meritless, counterproductive, and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever.”
South Africa’s accusation of genocide against Israel exposes how far Israel’s enemies will go in their attempts to demonize the Jewish state. While barely acknowledging the Hamas terrorists who gleefully massacred, mutilated, raped, and kidnapped innocent civilians on October 7, South Africa makes grossly unfounded and defamatory charges against Israel on the world stage, abusing the judicial process in order to delegitimize the democratic State of Israel. Charging the Jewish state with genocide for defending itself against Hamas terror is particularly cynical given that the term “genocide” was coined following the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust.
We vigorously denounce South Africa’s deeply hostile stance towards Israel and thoroughly reject its charge of genocide. We urge you to continue to do the same, to offer Israel all appropriate support in opposing the South African application to the ICJ, and to encourage our allies to join us in speaking out against this unfounded attack on Israel, particularly at the United Nations and in other intergovernmental organizations.
Sincerely,
Christopher H. Smith
Member of Congress
Kathy Manning
Member of Congress
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Doug Lamborn
Member of Congress
Brad Sherman
Member of Congress
Michael T. McCaul Chairman
House Foreign Affairs Committee
Bradley Scott Schneider
Member of Congress
Elise M. Stefanik
Member of Congress
Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Member of Congress
Kay Granger
Member of Congress
Mike Rogers
Member of Congress
Michael R. Turner
Member of Congress
Jodey C. Arrington
Member of Congress
Patrick T. McHenry
Member of Congress
Mike Bost
Member of Congress
Bruce Westerman
Member of Congress
Virginia Foxx
Member of Congress
Glenn "GT" Thompson
Member of Congress
Sam Graves
Member of Congress
Bryan Steil
Member of Congress
Tom Emmer
Member of Congress
Ryan K. Zinke
Member of Congress
Joe Wilson
Member of Congress
Claudia Tenney
Member of Congress
María Elvira Salazar
Member of Congress
French Hill
Member of Congress
Darrell Issa
Member of Congress
Ann Wagner
Member of Congress
Brian J. Mast
Member of Congress
Thomas H. Kean, Jr.
Member of Congress
Andy Barr
Member of Congress
Ronny L. Jackson
Member of Congress
Michael Waltz
Member of Congress
Tim Burchett
Member of Congress
Nathaniel Moran
Member of Congress
Keith Self
Member of Congress
Michael V. Lawler
Member of Congress
Bill Huizenga
Member of Congress
Susan Wild
Member of Congress
Kevin Hern
Member of Congress
David J. Trone
Member of Congress
David Kustoff
Member of Congress
Guy Reschenthaler
Member of Congress
Donald Norcross
Member of Congress
Max L. Miller
Member of Congress
Michelle Steel
Member of Congress
Nicole Malliotakis
Member of Congress
William R. Keating
Member of Congress
Kat Cammack
Member of Congress
Steve Cohen
Member of Congress
Andrew R. Garbarino
Member of Congress
Steve Womack
Member of Congress
Susie Lee
Member of Congress
Brian Fitzpatrick
Member of Congress
Gus M. Bilirakis
Member of Congress
Glenn Grothman
Member of Congress
Nicholas A. Langworthy
Member of Congress
Rudy Yakym III
Member of Congress
Julia Letlow, Ph.D.
Member of Congress
Ted W. Lieu
Member of Congress
August Pfluger
Member of Congress
Anthony D'Esposito
Member of Congress
Brad Finstad
Member of Congress
Jack Bergman
Member of Congress
Lisa C. McClain
Member of Congress
Dina Titus
Member of Congress
Nick LaLota
Member of Congress
Michael K. Simpson
Member of Congress
Carol D. Miller
Member of Congress
Charles J. "Chuck" Fleischmann
Member of Congress
Jared Golden
Member of Congress
Kevin Kiley
Member of Congress
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Member of Congress
Joseph D. Morelle
Member of Congress
Michael Cloud
Member of Congress
Pat Fallon
Member of Congress
Jake Auchincloss
Member of Congress
Zach Nunn
Member of Congress
Patrick K. Ryan
Member of Congress
Andy Harris, M.D.
Member of Congress
Monica De La Cruz
Member of Congress
Robert J. Wittman
Member of Congress
Julia Brownley
Member of Congress
Jefferson Van Drew
Member of Congress
Matt Cartwright
Member of Congress
Adrian Smith
Member of Congress
Elissa Slotkin
Member of Congress
Dan Goldman
Member of Congress
Grace Meng
Member of Congress
John Rose
Member of Congress
Carlos A. Gimenez
Member of Congress
Jake LaTurner
Member of Congress
Diana Harshbarger
Member of Congress
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez
Member of Congress
Lucy McBath
Member of Congress
H. Morgan Griffith
Member of Congress
Neal P. Dunn, M.D.
Member of Congress
Wiley Nickel
Member of Congress
Juan Vargas
Member of Congress
Dan Meuser
Member of Congress
Michael Guest
Member of Congress
Ken Calvert
Member of Congress
C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger
Member of Congress
Juan Ciscomani
Member of Congress
Don Bacon
Member of Congress
Jim Costa
Member of Congress
Richard Hudson
Member of Congress
Morgan Luttrell
Member of Congress
Ashley Hinson
Member of Congress
Angie Craig
Member of Congress
Frank D. Lucas
Member of Congress
Ritchie Torres
Member of Congress
Brian Babin
Member of Congress
Mike Quigley
Member of Congress
Jerry L. Carl
Member of Congress
Jenniffer González-Colón
Member of Congress
Tom McClintock
Member of Congress
Lori Chavez-DeRemer
Member of Congress
J. Luis Correa
Member of Congress
Andrew Ogles
Member of Congress
Debbie Lesko
Member of Congress
Doug LaMalfa
Member of Congress
Gary J. Palmer
Member of Congress
Dean Phillips
Member of Congress
Robert B. Aderholt
Member of Congress
Mark E. Amodei
Member of Congress
Frank Pallone, Jr.
Member of Congress
Chris Pappas
Member of Congress
Haley M. Stevens
Member of Congress
Lois Frankel
Member of Congress
Salud Carbajal
Member of Congress
Marcus J. Molinaro
Member of Congress
Derek Kilmer
Member of Congress
Ami Bera, M.D.
Member of Congress
Tim Walberg
Member of Congress
Randy K. Weber, Sr.
Member of Congress
Mike Levin
Member of Congress
Earl L. "Buddy" Carter
Member of Congress
David P. Joyce
Member of Congress
Mike Ezell
Member of Congress
Blaine Luetkemeyer
Member of Congress
Josh Harder
Member of Congress
Frank J. Mrvan
Member of Congress
Robert J. Menendez
Member of Congress
Jimmy Panetta
Member of Congress
Mariannette Miller-Meeks, M.D.
Member of Congress
Robert Garcia
Member of Congress
Garret Graves
Member of Congress
John R. Curtis
Member of Congress
Burgess Owens
Member of Congress
David G. Valadao
Member of Congress
Mike Garcia
Member of Congress
Scott H. Peters
Member of Congress
John R. Carter
Member of Congress
Aaron Bean
Member of Congress
Randy Feenstra
Member of Congress
Donald G. Davis
Member of Congress
Harriet M. Hageman
Member of Congress
Derrick Van Orden
Member of Congress
John H. Rutherford
Member of Congress
Vicente Gonzalez
Member of Congress
Greg Landsman
Member of Congress
Mike Carey
Member of Congress
Dan Crenshaw
Member of Congress
Wesley Hunt
Member of Congress
Lloyd Smucker
Member of Congress
Cliff Bentz
Member of Congress
Shri Thanedar
Member of Congress
Ruben Gallego
Member of Congress
Barry Loudermilk
Member of Congress
Vern Buchanan
Member of Congress
Kathy Castor
Member of Congress
David Rouzer
Member of Congress
Darin LaHood
Member of Congress
Erin Houchin
Member of Congress
Gregory F. Murphy, M.D.
Member of Congress
Darren Soto
Member of Congress
Chuck Edwards
Member of Congress
Robert E. Latta
Member of Congress
Ron Estes
Member of Congress
Dan Newhouse
Member of Congress
Andrew S. Clyde
Member of Congress
Brittany Pettersen
Member of Congress
John R. Moolenaar
Member of Congress
Rick W. Allen
Member of Congress
Brandon WIlliams
Member of Congress
Dusty Johnson
Member of Congress
Mike Gallagher
Member of Congress
Mikie Sherrill
Member of Congress
C. Scott Franklin
Member of Congress
Russ Fulcher
Member of Congress
Greg Stanton
Member of Congress
Bill Posey
Member of Congress
Adam B. Schiff
Member of Congress
Elijah Crane
Member of Congress
Andy Biggs
Member of Congress
