A coalition of over 50 influential American and Israeli Jewish and Christian leaders published a full-page letter Wednesday on page 2 of the Jerusalem Post, coinciding with President Biden’s arrival in Israel amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Iran-backed terrorist group Hamas.

“We need you to take stronger action on behalf of Israel,” faith leaders told President Biden in the letter, while also expressing gratitude for the president’s clear-eyed support for the State of Israel. The diverse group of religious leaders called for the total eradication of Hamas, strongly urging the president not to “pressure Israel into a premature ceasefire.”

All 199 hostages — from over 30 countries — must be immediately and unconditionally released, the group said, adding that Hamas’ violent attack on Israel was “also an undisguised attack on America.”

“As Israel’s greatest ally, America must demonstrate UNLIMITED and UNQUALIFIED support for Israel in its righteous battle against Hamas,” the letter concludes.

Among the signers of the letter is former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, who offers the following comment reflecting on the initiative:

“Jews and Christians worldwide are praying every day for the Jewish People and the State of Israel. What happened on October 7 can never happen again. We are united in demanding that the United States afford Israel the time, the space, and the resources to eradicate Hamas and end the atrocities which it commits against Jews and Palestinians alike.”

Rabbi Tuly Weisz, the head of Israel365, initiated the letter.

“I only have one word for how that ad came to be; nes,” Rabbi Weisz said, using the Hebrew word for a miracle performed by God. “It was nothing less than a miracle from Hashem.”

The story behind the letter bears this claim out.

“I was walking back from afternoon prayers with my son, and I was telling how frustrating it is to deal with what is going on in Israel in the wake of the attack. I’ve been working so hard but I feel like I’m not working hard enough. We’ve got to wake up our allies in the Christian world.”

“Suddenly, while explaining it to my son, I had an idea. I realized that President Biden is coming to Israel and we hadn’t addressed that at Israel365 and I felt guilty. As soon as I got home, I sat down and I drafted out a letter that if I could, I would write to President Biden.”

“And then I got to wondering how far I could take it. Rabbi Mischel and Rabbi Wolicki helped me make it stronger and then I shared with Ambassador David Friedman who made a couple of edits. And then he said that he thought it was good and that Biden really needed to see it. I was pleased but I thought that was as far as it would go.”

“I thanked Ambassador Friedman and then he said that he wanted to be the first to sign it. I realized that I couldn’t just stop there. I called Maayan Hoffman at the Jerusalem Post and asked if it was possible to have the letter published as a story in the Jerusalem Post. She reluctantly said that it was not so I asked if it was possible to get an ad in the J-Post as I knew it would get attention faster. She put me in touch with the ad department and asked about a small ad, maybe a quarter of a page. I was told that the paper was completely full.”

“The advertising person then said that the only possibility was a full-page ad, and I asked, ‘How can I afford that?”

“Surprisingly, she said, ‘Don’t worry about it’ and she okayed the ad and I committed to the full page ad on the spot. I started to solicit signatures. I called so many pastors and rabbis and they all agreed to put their name on; Jews and Christians, rabbis and pastors together on the same page. People who had never come together under any ordinary circumstances recognized that this is not ordinary circumstances.”

“In just two hours, we got 25 of the leading rabbis and 25 of the leading Christian pastors to come together in one powerful voice for Israel. But the way things turned out, Biden will certainly see this and get the message.”

Rabbi Weisz emphasized that this was the hand of God at work.

“When I first thought of this, I had no idea how to contact the president of the United States,” Rabbi Weisz said. “But the way things turned out, it is for sure that Biden will see this and get the message.”

Rabbi Elie Mischel, the educational director of Israel365 was cautious in his praise of Biden’s visit.

“We appreciate the support President Biden and the United States have offered so far, but our fear is that it comes with dangerous strings attached,” Rabbi Mischel said. “John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the U.S. National Security Council, said the President intends to ask the Israelis some ‘tough questions.’ In other words, the President will be pressuring Israel to limit its response to Hamas’ butchery. This is extremely dangerous, as Israel must completely destroy every last Hamas terrorist in order to protect the people of Israel. That’s why we wrote the letter. President Biden must stand back and get out of the way. Israel must finish the job.”