Hadash lawmaker Ofer Cassif called on the international community to sanction Israel, to save the “hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have been starved and slaughtered,” as well as the “tortured Israeli hostages.” “He said that sanctions would “save the dying soul of Israeli society,” he wrote on social media, Saturday, August 9. “No state or government should be above natural justice and international law,” he added.”
Hadash MKs Aida Touma-Sliman and Ofer Cassif during a demonstration against the war near the Gaza border, July 5, 2025 (Photo: Al-Ittihad)
Thirty-one Israeli filmmakers, artists, academics, and former politicians called for the international community to impose “crippling sanctions” on Israel to pressure it into a ceasefire and end the war in Gaza, in a Wednesday, July 30, letter to The Guardian. The signatories said: “We, Israelis dedicated to a peaceful future for our country and our Palestinian neighbors, write this with grave shame, in rage and in agony. Our country is starving the people of Gaza to death and contemplating the forced removal of millions of Palestinians from the Strip. The international community must impose crippling sanctions on Israel until it ends this brutal campaign and implements a permanent ceasefire.”
The signatories are: Yuval Abraham, Journalist; Academy Award recipient (2025); Ra’anan Alexandrowicz, Documentary film-maker; Sundance world cinema jury prize recipient (2012); Udi Aloni, Film-maker; Tribeca film festival best international narrative feature recipient (2016); Liran Atzmor, Documentary film-maker; Peabody Award recipient (2014); Prof Tali Bitan, University of Haifa; Att. Michael Ben-Yair, Former attorney general of Israel; former acting supreme court judge; Nir Bergman Screenwriter and film director; Ophir award recipient (2020); Avraham Burg Former speaker of the Knesset; former head of the Jewish Agency; Peter Cole, Poet and translator; MacArthur Fellow; Guy Davidi, Documentary film-maker; International Emmy Award recipient (2013); Ari Folman, Screenwriter and film director; Golden Globe recipient (2009); Shira Geffen, Actor and screenwriter; Camera d’Or recipient (2007); Prof Emeritus Amiram Goldblum, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Prof Oded Goldreich, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel prize recipient (2021); Tamar Gozansky, Hadash former Knesset member; Prof Uri Hadar, Tel Aviv University; Prof Moty Heiblum, Wolf prize in physics recipient (2025); Adina Hoffman Writer; Windham Campbell prize recipient (2013); Eran Kolirin, Screenwriter and film director; Ophir Award recipient (2021); Nadav Lapid, Screenwriter and film director; Golden Bear recipient (2019), Alex Levac, Israel prize recipient (2005); Hagai Levi, Television writer and director; Golden Globe recipient (2015), Samuel Maoz, Film director; Golden Lion recipient (2009); Dr Adi Moreno, Tel Aviv-Yafo Academic College; Prof Michal Na’aman Painter, Israel prize recipient (2014); Ohad Naharin Choreographer and Israel prize recipient (2005); Daniella Nowitz Cinematographer, Academy Award recipient (2023)
Prof Adi Ophir, Tel Aviv University; Inbal Pinto, Choreographer and dancer and Israeli ministry of culture award recipient (2011); Aharon Shabtai, Poet and translator and Israeli prime minister’s prize recipient (1993) and Eyal Weizman Architect, director of Forensic Architecture.
