Several major labor unions on Tuesday called on President Joe Biden to halt all military aid to Israel, in a joint letter sent to the president the day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress on Wednesday.

“We believe that immediately cutting U.S. military aid to the Israeli government is necessary to bring about a peaceful resolution to this conflict,” reads the letter, which was signed by seven unions representing millions of American workers. 

Signatories include the Service Employees International Union, National Education Association, United Auto Workers, Association of Flight Attendants, the American Postal Workers Union, the International Union of Painters and the United Electrical Workers. 

The unions declared that “the Israeli government will continue to pursue its vicious response to the horrific attacks of Oct. 7th until it is forced to stop,” and argued that Israel “refus[es] to minimize civilian harm.” 

The missive to the president comes amid a push from the UAW to protest Netanyahu’s speech by organizing a “labor contingent” to a major anti-Israel protest planned for Capitol Hill on Wednesday. A sign-up sheet for the protest that the UAW shared on social media called Netanyahu a “wanted war criminal” who will ask Congress for “more U.S. aid for his ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.” The protest, which seeks the arrest of Netanyahu, will “express our solidarity with the people of Palestine.” 

The letter to Biden is the most forceful condemnation of Israel yet from American labor unions, but it is not the first time that they have weighed in on the war in Gaza. In December, dozens of unions signed onto a petition calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. “The road to justice cannot be paved by bombs and war. The road to peace cannot be found through warfare. We commit ourselves to work in solidarity with the Palestinian and Israeli peoples to achieve peace and justice,” the petition stated.

At the time, the UAW cited the union’s history of engaging on other global issues: “From opposing fascism in [World War II] to mobilizing against apartheid South Africa and the CONTRA war, the UAW has consistently stood for justice across the globe,” Brandon Mancilla, a regional director, said in December.

Despite its core focus on auto workers, the UAW also represents academic workers at several major universities, including Harvard and the University of California system. In November, Harvard’s graduate student union — a UAW chapter — voted to endorse the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. 

In June, the UAW chapter representing nearly 50,000 academic workers at 10 University of California schools authorized a strike after they claimed UC leaders violated workers’ rights by cracking down on anti-Israel protests.