[ ]J Street [ ]
Friends,

Yesterday, I attended Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s address to a joint
session of Congress honoring 75 years of Israeli independence.

On my way there, I proudly joined hundreds of people, including many J
Streeters, for a rally at the Capitol in support of Israel’s democracy
organized by our friends at UnXeptable.

With the extreme Netanyahu government pressing ahead with its dangerous
judicial overhaul, I’m deeply proud of the role our movement is playing in
the struggle for Israel’s democratic future: A battleground stretching
from religious pluralism and judicial independence within the Green Line,
to the push for freedom, equality and self-determination for all those
beyond it.

[1]Photos from pro-democracy rally outside the US Capitol

In a week when many in Congress were busy turning Israel into a political
football – looking to score partisan points and silence substantive debate
– we stayed focused on the unfolding realities on the ground, and on the
very real dangers facing both Israelis and Palestinians.

On Tuesday, just as President Herzog was meeting with President Biden,
hundreds tuned in to a webinar we hosted with two inspiring protest
leaders and activists – Mika Almog, speaking live on the ground from
protests in Tel Aviv, and Israeli-American Offir Gutelzon, co-founder of
the UnXeptable movement, live from just outside the White House.

Offir told us about the ongoing pro-democracy protests in both Israel and
the US: “We’re giving a stage for people who understand the risk to the
Jewish homeland…who know that it’s okay to criticize this extreme
right-wing government and stand up for Israeli democracy.”

Mika echoed him: “It’s a battle for our lives; it’s a battle for our
future; and we’re also very much aware that this is not an internal
Israeli matter. This is a battle regarding the future of the entire Jewish
people and the next page in our history books.”

[2]Quotes from Offir Gutelzon and Mika Almog from J Street webinar

At J Street, we know that their struggle is our struggle.

That’s why our pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy movement continues to
push for the White House and Congress to confront the ongoing crises head
on, instead of looking the other way and pretending there’s nothing to
see. It’s why we continue to make clear that this moment calls for much
more than “business as usual.”

As I sat in the Capitol yesterday, I was moved by President Herzog’s
personal, multigenerational story of connection between the US and Israel
– dating back to Israel’s founding. The relationship between the two
countries has been, and must continue in the future to be, grounded in
shared values as well as interests.

I was reminded all through the speech of how much those shared values are
now threatened, and how vital it is that we defend them – whether from
insurrectionists here in the States or from far-right religious
nationalists in Israel.

And I felt the missing element of the speech was a call to action: The
moment is now to fight for the future we want for ourselves, for
Palestinians, for Israelis, for all our children.

We can’t fall back on easy platitudes or oversimplified slogans, or let
our elected leaders do the same. We have to keep standing up and speaking
out for democracy, for Israeli-Palestinian peace, and for an end to the
conflict and occupation.

We have to do everything we can to ensure that the liberal democratic
vision of Israel’s founders wins out over the extreme, autocratic,
ethno-nationalist agenda of Netanyahu, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir.

I’m committed to that work. J Street is committed to that work. And we
won’t take our eye off the ball.

Thank you,

Jeremy Ben-Ami
President, J Street


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J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy
Americans who want Israel to be secure, democratic and the national home of the
Jewish people. Working in American politics and the Jewish community, we
advocate policies that advance shared US and Israeli interests as well as Jewish
and democratic values, leading to a two-state solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.



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