Let’s Be Reasonable

by Steve Sheffey

Key Takeaways:

• It is premature to declare Israel’s democracy dead and the occupation permanent. The protest movement in Israel is alive and well, and if they are not giving up neither should we. Jewish Americans who care about Israel’s future have an obligation to speak up in support of Israel’s democracy — and to urge Jewish organizations they are members of to do the same. Silence is complicity, now more than ever.
• We should continue to support Israel’s safety and security, which in 2023 includes opposing actions by Israelis or Palestinians that put a two-state solution further from reach and backing pro-democracy protesters in Israel (including in Israel’s security establishment) working to overturn the recent repeal of the reasonableness standard. What kind of government views reasonableness as a threat? No wonder Republicans have nothing to say.
• Israel is a partisan issue and it’s time to stop pretending that it’s not. Only the Democratic Party supports a two-state solution and only the Democratic Party is speaking against anti-democratic measures in Israel that will weaken the U.S.-Israel relationship. Please urge your member of Congress to cosponsor Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s (D-IL) resolution supporting Israeli democracy.
• We should support pro-Israel candidates and organizations in the U.S. and stop supporting organizations working to elect Republicans. We can’t vote in Israel but we can and should support those in Israel working for a Jewish, democratic Israel.
• Republicans have introduced H.R. 4691, which would weaken our ability to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. We should oppose this and other poison pills designed to scuttle diplomacy with Iran.

We did not give up hope when Donald Trump became president in 2017. We channeled our love for America and what it stands for into action. Democrats won back the House in 2018, won back the presidency in 2020, and won back the Senate in 2021 (but for redistricting issues, Democrats would have retained the House in 2022).

We can win back Israel. Let’s not give up hope, not if we love Israel and the ideals of its Declaration of Independence. Let’s channel our love for Israel and what it stands for not into despair but into action. It is premature to declare Israel’s democracy dead and the occupation permanent. The protest movement in Israel is alive and well, and if they are not giving up neither should we. Israelis are counting on the Jewish community to speak up and by doing so, prove that Republicans are out of touch with our community when the GOP faults President Biden for voicing concerns about Israel’s democracy.

As Michael Koplow said at JDCA’s discussion on Friday, no one feels security interests in their kishkes. Shared values lie at the heart of our emotional connection to Israel.

If we lose our shared values then the U.S.-Israel relationship will weaken. We cannot remain neutral on this issue if we care about Israel. President Kennedy was fond of saying that “the hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of moral crisis preserve their neutrality.” Now is the time to take sides.

If JFK’s word is not good enough for you, listen to major figures in Israel’s security establishment who, now retired, are free to speak out: Imploring President Biden to show Israel some “tough love,” they wrote on July 28 that “to have a special relationship based on shared values, you need to actually share values.” They explicitly asked for our help. Who are we to say no?

“Pro-Israel” does not mean (and never should have meant) blind support for Israel’s current government. We criticized our democratically elected government after Trump won because we supported the United States, not its president. We should continue to support Israel’s safety and security, which in 2023 includes opposing actions by Israelis or Palestinians that put a two-state solution further from reach and supporting pro-democracy protesters in Israel (including in Israel’s security establishment) working to overturn the recently enacted judicial changes and to prevent more damage.

In practice, this means no more lip service to “bipartisan support for Israel.” That might be an aspiration but that’s not reality. Only the Democratic Party supports a two-state solution. The Republican Party removed support for a two-state solution from its platform in 2016 and nixed language supporting a two-state solution in the Israel 75th birthday resolution the House passed in April.

Only Democrats are speaking out against the evisceration of Israel’s judiciary, the only check on corrupt and anti-democratic action the government might take. Both parties share a commitment to providing security assistance to Israel, but that’s not enough. It matters for the future of the U.S-Israel relationship what the “Israel” is that we are supporting.

That’s why we have to recognize the folly of conflating criticism of Israel’s current government with non-support for Israel. It’s the opposite. As Alon Pinkas writes, “neither Biden nor his predecessors got politically or emotionally involved when democracy in Turkey and Hungary (both NATO members) or Brazil (a major hemispheric power) was assaulted. He is getting involved when it comes to Israel. This should be viewed as a compliment and testament to the type of relationship that exists between the two countries, not as a confrontation.” The difference for the U.S. between Israel and Turkey/Hungary/Brazil is shared values. That’s why it matters more when Israel’s democracy is on the chopping block.

Organizations that ignore the occupation, ignore the need for a two-state solution, and remain silent on the Netanyahu government’s judicial changes (or support them) do not deserve our support.

Organizations that endorse or contribute to Republicans might sincerely believe that they are pro-Israel. But if they support candidates who support neither a two-state solution nor democracy as we know it, they do not deserve our support (although they might be considered pro-Israel by right-wing Evangelicals and by the 25% of Jewish voters for whom nothing will shake their faith in the Republican Party).

Weekly condemnations of antisemitism or resolutions on Israel that gloss over the challenges Israel faces will not save Israel’s democracy. If Congress feels the need to speak out on Israel it should reaffirm support for Israel as a Jewish, democratic state and democracy’s importance to the U.S.-Israel relationship. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) introduced a resolution on Thursday that does just that. Every pro-Israel member of Congress should support or cosponsor this pro-Israel resolution, especially if they have previously cosponsored resolutions supporting Israel. Let’s see if Speaker McCarthy allows it to come to the full House for a vote. JDCA backs this resolution. Click here to urge your member of Congress to support Israel’s democracy by supporting this resolution.

The repeal of Israel’s “reasonableness standard” for overturning government decisions is a dangerous first step toward dismantling Israel’s democracy. What kind of government views reasonableness as a threat? The goal, as Adam Shinar explains, is removing checks on the current government’s power so that it can build more settlements and eventually annex the West Bank, increase subsidies for the ultra-Orthodox, and curtail minority rights.

In other words, goodbye shared values. That’s good for neither Israel nor the U.S.-Israel relationship, which is why pro-Israel today means opposing the current government’s anti-democratic policies, just as patriotism following Trump’s election meant opposing his government and working to elect Democrats.

Michael Koplow writes that “while support for Israel among American evangelicals is rooted in deep religious traditions about how the creation of the modern State of Israel is proof of divinity and biblical authenticity, for other Americans — Jews and non-Jews — it is rooted in a vision of Israel in which it mirrors a just and democratic U.S.” If we support a strong U.S.-Israel relationship we must actively support democracy in the U.S. and Israel. We cannot afford to sit on the sidelines.

Democracy goes to the essence of who we are, how we govern ourselves, and our ability to fight for other issues that are important to us, which is why we must prioritize it — both here and in Israel. Recent polling shows that democracy is the number one issue for Jewish American voters.

We can’t vote in Israel but we can support those in Israel who share our values. A few days before Tisha B’Av, Rabbi Sharon Brous wrote that “for too long, diaspora Jews have accepted the false premise that loving Israel means silencing our own conscience and undermining our core commitments, bowing to Israel’s increasingly intolerant, extremist and ultra-nationalist policies and aspirations.”

So what should we do? In Pirke Avot, Ben Zoma says “Who is wise? He who learns from every man.” Our right-wing American friends have taught us that political and ideological financial contributions can make a difference not only in America but in Israel. Let’s learn from them.

Rabbi Jill Jacobs wrote in March “about the vacuum centrist and liberal Jews have created by either avoiding investment in Israel altogether, or by giving to projects perceived as apolitical. This vacuum has allowed [American] right-wing funders to drive Israel further and further toward fascism. Rather than walk away from Israel now, donors concerned about the future of Israel must respond by investing in human rights and civil society groups that have been fighting for democracy for years.

“Progressive American Jews who criticize Israel are accustomed to hearing the complaint that one shouldn’t try to influence the policy of a country where they don’t live. This attack oozes with hypocrisy as right-wing donors have no compunction about pouring billions of dollars into advancing right-wing policies in Israel, funding settlement growth and even supporting the violent extremists who now have outsized power in the Israeli government.”

Anshel Pfeffer wrote that Netanyahu’s rise to power would not have been possible without American Jews and that he is often asked by liberal Jewish Americans what they can do to influence policy in Israel, “yet the answer is right there, staring them in the face.”

If you are concerned about Israel’s future, donate to organizations in Israel fighting for the Israel we love. Give strategically. Israel is an economically advanced country. If you currently give to organizations in Israel or organizations in the U.S. that funnel funds to Israel, shift your contributions from organizations doing what Israel can do by itself (or that are less urgent) to organizations addressing Israel’s existential struggles.

A partial list to consider might include Commanders for Israel’s Security, Darkenu, Mehazkim, UnXeptable, the Economic Cooperation Foundation, the Masorti Foundation, the Center for Liberal Democracy, and Mishmar Hasaf. I’m sure there are others. It takes good billionaires to stop bad billionaires, so if you are a billionaire, this is your opportunity. If you’re not, give what you can.

Oppose irresponsible Iran legislation. Republicans introduced H.R. 4691, the Iran Sanctions Relief Review Act of 2023, to undermine diplomacy with Iran by making removal of sanctions against Iran more difficult under any circumstances. It’s a poison pill. The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to advance the bill on Thursday but we should not support this or other legislation designed to scuttle diplomacy with Iran, which will increase the likelihood of either a nuclear-armed Iran or war.

As Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY) pointed out, the bill would “damage America’s ability to conduct effective diplomacy” by undercutting U.S. negotiators in talks with Iran, kneecapping any potential efforts to deescalate tensions with Iran, and potentially undercutting diplomats in other arenas in the future.

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The views expressed here are those of the author and not necessarily of JDCA.