Friend,
Seventeen years ago, we launched J Street to change the definition of what it means to be pro-Israel.
In 2009, the New York Times profiled our new organization, and I was quoted saying:
“We’re trying to redefine what it means to be pro-Israel. You don’t have to be noncritical. You don’t have to adopt the party line. It’s not, ‘Israel, right or wrong.’”
That was our vision: To create space for honesty, to shatter the silence – not just in politics, but in Jewish communal life as well.
The New York Times has returned to the story. Their new reporting details how Democrats in Washington are increasingly rejecting AIPAC’s stranglehold and refusing to accept its “Israel, right or wrong” approach. That shift is real, and it’s exactly what we set out to achieve.
And the change isn’t just happening in Congress.
This High Holiday season, rabbis across the country spoke from their pulpits with courage and honesty that had long felt constrained. For years, many rabbis wrestled privately when Israeli government policies and actions conflicted with Jewish values and the country’s long-term interests. Now, more clergy are finding space to openly voice their love in all of its complexity with their communities.
The fact that so many, who clearly care deeply about Israel, finally feel free to speak from the heart is also a revolution. In the days ahead, we’ll be compiling highlights from sermons where rabbis spoke out.
The silence, in Washington and in our synagogues, is precisely what we launched J Street to break. And together, we are breaking it.
Of course, AIPAC and other old guard organizations still throw their weight around.
But there’s no denying it: The conversation has changed.
The old definition of “pro-Israel,” blind loyalty and unconditional support to the Israeli government, is collapsing. In its place, we are building a stronger, more honest, more sustainable vision of how to support a secure, Jewish and democratic state.
That’s the movement you’ve built with us: Pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy. One that gives politicians and rabbis, activists and community members the cover and the courage to speak up, and the power to be heard.
Seventeen years ago, the Times announced our arrival. Today, it’s documenting the political progress we’ve made. And this week, rabbis proved that change is transforming Jewish communal life as well.
We still have enormous work ahead: To defeat the extremists, to protect democracy, to ensure US policy truly serves Israel’s security and values, and to keep building the power we’ll need for peace.
But today, we can see the tide turning. That should give us hope, strength and determination to fight even harder.
Yours,
Jeremy Ben-Ami
President, J Street
PS: If you’d like to hear more about how we define "pro-Israel," please click here.
