Joining the list of international organizations expressing their concern over recent freezes on the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) funding are a number of Modern Orthodox rabbis.
The 23 Jewish leaders shared that the Jewish “tradition commands us to uphold the sanctity of life and to care for the most vulnerable, regardless of national borders. We have already seen how the funding freeze and dismantlement are literally threatening the lives of the sick, hungry and vulnerable in the most immediate and devastating way.
“While the priorities and administration of USAID may well need to be revamped and even transformed in the case of some programs, such actions must be carried out with care and wisdom. Meanwhile we call for funding to be restored and the necessary administrative staff of USAID to be rehired, in order that essential, often life-saving funding in nutrition, food security, health and education can continue and massive loss of life and health can be avoided, and human potential can be saved.”
Those behind the call to restore USAID are Rabbi Shimon Brand, Rabbi Shamir Caplan, Rabbi Dr. Michael Chernick, Rabbi Yehoshua Engelman, Rabba Ruth Friedman, Rabbi Michael Gordan, Rabbi Dr. Mel Gottlieb, Rabbi Dr. Yitz Greenberg, Rabbi Steve Greenberg, Rabbi Avram Herzog, Rabbi Frederick Klein, Rabbi Dina Najman, Rabbi Micha Odenheimer, Rabbi Isaac Sassoon, Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger, Rabba Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez, Rabbi David A. Schwartz, Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, Rabbi Alana Suskin, Rabba Dr. Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz, Rabbi Dr. Jeremiah Unterman, Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, and Rabbi Dr. Wendy Zierler.
Will the US restore USAID funding?
USAID has said that all direct hires except essential workers will be put on leave, and 1,600 USAID personnel in the US will be cut. It also plans to fire the more than 10,000 foreign nationals employed by USAID, as well as US diplomats and civil servants assigned to USAID missions abroad.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump's administration moved to reinstate at least six recently canceled US foreign aid programs for emergency food assistance, six sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The quick reversal of decisions made just days ago underscored the rapid-fire nature of Trump's cuts to foreign aid. That has led to programs being cut, restored, then cut again, disrupting international humanitarian operations.
USAID Acting Deputy Administrator Jeremy Lewin, who has previously been identified as a member of billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, asked staff in an internal email to reverse the terminations.
He asked to restore awards to the World Food Programme in Lebanon, Syria, Somalia, Jordan, Iraq, and Ecuador, five sources familiar with the matter said.