In the wake of the reelection of Donald Trump, I wanted to share a few thoughts on DAWN's strategy and plans in the coming four years. While Trump's election may have come as a surprise to many Americans, it was not a surprise for DAWN, nor do we expect it to change the work to which we remain dedicated. We are ready to work across all political aisles to succeed in our mission to reform U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, to end support for abusive regimes and to hold perpetrators of abuses, including their aiders and abetters, accountable.
While a new Trump administration will pose some significant new challenges for us, we also believe that there are areas in which we may find alignment. U.S. policies that support and enable abusive regimes in the Middle East are not unique to Republicans or Democrats but are the product of a sadly shared worldview predicated on two factors: an ideological devotion to U.S. hegemony in the region, and domestic lobbies and foreign government influence that reward elected officials who secure defense industry profits and unquestioned support for Israel.
Our eyes are wide open to the reality that a Trump administration will pursue even greater arms sales to regional dictatorships and facilitate dangerous Israeli plans to annex a depopulated Gaza and the West Bank. President Trump and a growing segment of the Republican party have at times expressed aversion to American entanglements in (and taxpayer financing of) expanded Middle East wars as well as corrupting foreign influence, so we are hopeful we will persuade them to secure an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon and block Israel's efforts to start a major new war with Iran.
We will also continue to use the legal mechanisms available to us to sanction and hold accountable officials of abusive regimes and their U.S. enablers under domestic legislation, like the Magnitsky Act, and international law mechanisms, like the International Criminal Court and universal jurisdiction statutes in Europe. We will push member states of the Court to enforce the recent arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant We hope such efforts will not only serve to punish these abusers but deter others from following their playbook, with the knowledge that they too can be dragged before a court and even face time in prison for their role in atrocities in the Middle East. Watch this space for important new announcements to come in our efforts to hold American officials accountable for their own role in facilitating the genocide in Gaza.
DAWN recognizes that to succeed in our mission, we need to expand our work to protect the integrity of American democracy from the malign influence of abusive regimes and their supporters in the U.S. who use their financial support to corrupt decision-making in our country. Our battle to preserve the political space for American civil society to protest and campaign against foreign abusers and needless wars will face an even greater challenge under a Trump administration. In particular, the troublesome record of Trump administration officials financially tethered to the Saudi government bodes ill for preserving the integrity of our democracy from foreign corruption. We are committed to working with a very strong community of allies who will fight any efforts to deprive us of our First Amendment rights and force us into silence in the face of the shocking Israeli atrocities still underway in Palestine. More and more people now understand that the pursuit of democracy and human rights in the Middle East is intricately linked to protecting and preserving democracy and human rights in the United States.
We thank all of you who have become such an important part of our community, for sharing our values and supporting our mission. We need your financial support now more than ever to continue our fight no matter who is in the White House. Please take heart in knowing that our commitment is unshakeable, our courage unquestionable, and our message stronger than ever. We have withstood a great deal in this past year, and we are prepared to fight even harder in the coming years.
