Washington, DC – In response to President Donald Trump’s executive actions to permanently end US contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency; pause foreign aid funding around the world and dismantle USAID; reinstate “maximum pressure” sanctions on Iran; withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council; and impose punitive sanctions on International Criminal Court officials, Hannah Morris, J Street’s Director of Government Affairs, issued the following statement:

“The Trump Administration’s slew of executive actions this week range from the purely symbolic to the deeply damaging. While J Street opposes all of these measures, including the mostly symbolic return to the failed ‘maximum pressure’ strategy on Iran, and permanently ending US contributions to UNRWA, it is most urgently concerned about efforts to pause nearly all foreign assistance and shut down USAID, which threatens the fragile ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon that are returning hostages to their families and keeping millions of civilians safe.

We are also deeply concerned about actions to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council and impose punitive sanctions on ICC officials, each of which damages relations with America’s allies, weakens US influence in these institutions and undermines our shared interest in a stable world order rooted in the rule of law.

Pausing nearly all foreign assistance – including humanitarian assistance to Gaza, security assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces, and support for economic and security support for Jordan – is deeply damaging to Israel and the United States. The ceasefire in Gaza is dependent on humanitarian assistance continuing to flow, and the US is the largest contributor to that assistance. The Israel-Lebanon ceasefire depends on the Lebanese Armed Forces being able to move into Southern Lebanon and displace Hezbollah, which is made more difficult when financial support is cut off.

Tripling down on US opposition to UNRWA, following congressional funding bans and Israel’s ban on UNRWA coordination, will contribute to deprivation and desperation in the region, providing further fuel for violent extremists and potentially undermining the ability to move to later stages of the ceasefire.

Withdrawing the United States from the UN Human Rights Council and requiring a review of every international body, treaty and convention of which the US is a member or signatory is a counterproductive move that sends a dangerous message to the world. While America should always call out improper attempts to single out Israel, Trump’s efforts to attack multilateral institutions charged with upholding human rights and international law sends a clear message to anti-democratic leaders and human rights abusers around the world. The US can better protect its interests from within international bodies like the UNHRC, while also advancing human rights worldwide.

President Trump’s order designating the ICC an ‘extraordinary threat’ and applying sanctions is another counterproductive violation of our values. This order threatens efforts around the world to protect witnesses, deliver reparations to victims and pursue US-supported investigations of adversaries, including Vladimir Putin. While it’s deeply painful to see justices have found reasonable grounds to hold that top Israeli officials intentionally violated international law, sanctioning an international body supported by our allies and charged with deterring major atrocities is not an act of moral leadership.

We are deeply concerned that these actions undermine our interests, shake the foundations of the fragile ceasefire, and dampen the prospects for historic diplomatic advances so desired by the ‘dealmaker-in-chief’ and so many others around the world.”

See prior statements for responses to President Trump’s horrific Gaza proposal, the halt to USAID funding and the revocation of sanctions against extremist settlers.