For the signatories, this was a deeply personal decision. “At this point, watching the genocide unfold, you realize that this is a moment where you will think back to where you were when it started happening and ask yourself if you did anything,” said a signatory, a current administration official. . “Looking at other similar moments in time, it is important to act now, even if it may be undone. We must move towards peace.

The former administration official was of the same opinion. “When you look at history, whether it’s the treatment of Native Americans, the civil rights of black Americans, apartheid in South Africa, all of that wasn’t resolved in a year, two, a hundred or sometimes 400 years,” they said. “But if at some point, even after 200 years, someone (decided no progress was being made and) gave up, we wouldn’t be here.”

For the signatories, Trump’s victory also crystallized another important factor in their decision to publish the letter. When he takes office on January 20, he will quickly reverse most of the current administration’s policies. The president’s national legacy – full employment and strong economic growth emphasizing the development of manufacturing and the strengthening of the working and middle classes – will be destroyed more or less immediately. Gaza is what will remain.