As the latest crisis in the Middle East now appears to be spiraling out of control and the specter of war looms near, the Progressive Jewish Alliance renews its call upon all parties to immediately end the cycle of killing and violence. Obviously, there is no realistic possibility that the peace process for which we have worked and prayed can resume until this latest crisis comes to an end and Israeli-Palestinian trust is rebuilt. The current violence is made all the more tragic by the fact that it comes so soon after the refusal of the Palestinian leadership to consider a series of substantive and realistic peace proposals put forth by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. We call upon the United States government and the international community to intervene in whatever ways possible to avert further bloodshed and to help de-escalate this conflagration. We call upon the Palestinian leadership to do everything within its power to stop the violence on its side, and to commit itself to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through negotiation and dialogue. We call upon the Israeli government to exercise restraint and to pursue any and all available means of ending the current violence and returning to the peace table.