Dear John, On Monday, Hadar invited you to sign onto a statement urging Administration officials to refuse to meet with Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister who is also a self-proclaimed “fascist homophobe” and the de facto Minister of Occupation. That petition – which had 1,000 signatories in the first 24 hours – was only one part of our campaign to make sure that Smotrich wouldn’t be welcomed in Washington without an outcry by the Jewish community. And now, the New York Times wrote an article about the Smotrich visit. Along with a link to an article that Hadar wrote, the Times reports that “Mr. Smotrich’s visit to Washington has raised alarms among some American Jewish organizations, which say the meeting threatens to jeopardize truce talks between Israel and Hamas and could legitimize positions previously deemed taboo.” While the Trump administration did welcome Smotrich, I draw strength from the work that you and I are doing through NJN to make sure that the call for our values – for democracy, equality, and peace – are always heard. Thank you for being a part of the magic that is New Jewish Narrative! Noam Shelef
VP of Communications | |