John,

On Monday, for the second time in recent weeks, I stood in the streets with fellow Jewish New Yorkers and Israelis to speak out against the actions of the Israeli government, in solidarity with the historic mobilizations of hundreds of thousands of Israelis against anti-democratic actions by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Read more in Haaretz about why I’ve joined the protests here in NYC and how the U.S. government should change course to hold Israel’s government accountable to democratic principles and human rights. [[link removed]]

After the historic protests spread to universities and cultural institutions, strikes expanded to army reservists, and outgoing flights were even shut down from Ben Gurion Airport, Prime Minister Netanyahu backed down – for now – from pushing through legislation that would undermine judicial independence to protect himself and his cronies from legal accountability.
But this pause isn’t the end of the anti-democratic legislation, and it shouldn’t be the end of the protests either. While this blatant attempt to destroy democratic checks and balances galvanized hundreds of thousands of Israelis into the streets, the Israeli government’s actions towards Palestinians have long undermined democratic norms and human rights principles.
Any meaningful commitment to a democratic future for Israel requires an end to the occupation. Extending the current movement for democracy into one that insists on human rights and equality for Palestinians holds hope for restoring the commitment of Israel’s Declaration of Independence to “ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants.”
Instead, to secure a deal to delay the judicial coup on Monday, Netanyahu agreed to give [[link removed]] far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir control over his own new national militia force. Ben-Gvir is known [[link removed]] for being a supporter of Meir Kahane and Baruch Goldstein, an extremist settler who massacred 29 Palestinian worshippers in Hebron in 1994. That plus the vigilante violence by settlers who attacked the Palestinian village of Huwara this month is a harbinger of more violence on the horizon.
Already this year, more than 80 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or extremist settlers, including 16 children. At least 14 Israelis have been killed by Palestinians, including 7 outside their synagogue. Each day brings more violence.
Something has to change. One thing that could: American foreign policy.
Trump and his Republican enablers helped pave the way for Netanyahu’s authoritarianism through their contempt for democracy and support for racist extremism.
Now, Democrats who care about Israel, from President Joe Biden on down, have to hold the Netanyahu government to account. We cannot continue to write a blank check to an increasingly authoritarian regime.
The nearly $4 billion of American military aid to Israel each year cannot fund the erosion of democratic institutions, illegal settlements, home demolitions, or military detention of children.
Right now, Representative Jamaal Bowman and Senator Bernie Sanders are collecting signatures on a letter to the Biden administration to investigate whether Israel is using US weapons to commit human rights abuses against Palestinians, in violation of United States law. You can read more about it [[link removed]] in Jewish Currents and, if you agree, encourage your representatives to sign on.
If our goal is to support Israel as “the Middle East’s only democracy,” as a partner in what Biden officials call the “rules-based international order,” then that support must be tied to following the rules, respecting rights and acting democratically. And there must be consequences for not doing so.
Standing up for democracy, human rights and international law is a big part of what motivated American support for Israel to begin with. It’s the mainstream position of the majority of American Jews, and overwhelmingly of young American Jews.
And after joining protestors singing and marching in the streets in recent weeks, from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to New York City, I still believe that fighting for human rights and equality under the law is at the core of a democratic future for Israel as well.
Brad

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