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More than 550 former officials from Israel’s security establishment have urged US President Donald Trump to use his visit to the Middle East to help end the war on Gaza and secure the release of captives held in the Strip.
The appeal came in a letter sent on Sunday by Commanders for Israel’s Security, a group that includes hundreds of former senior figures from the Israeli occupation military, intelligence agency (Aman), the Mossad, and internal security service Shin Bet (Shabak), according to the Hebrew language newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
President Trump, who began his second term in January, arrived in Saudi Arabia today at the start of a regional tour that includes stops in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
In the letter, the signatories said: “We urge you to use your visit to the region to bring all our hostages back […] end the war [… and] end the death and suffering of innocents.”
They argued that the Gaza war “no longer serves Israel’s national objectives”, stating that Israel’s “justified objectives” to “end Hamas brutality” following the 7 October attacks “have long been achieved.”
They expressed hope that Trump’s visit to the region would mark a turning point, given his long-standing goal of ending wars and his popularity among Israelis.
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