Friends --
Since September has only barely begun, it’s hard to believe that the High Holidays are set to begin in a little over 24 hours -- but such are the wonders of the Jewish calendar!
At the end of this email, I’m going to request that you make a contribution toward our High Holy Days fundraising goal -- but first I wanted to take this moment to pause and reflect on the past 12 months.
For me personally, Rosh Hashanah comes at a moment that is both very challenging and very welcome.
Challenging, because I’ve just finished the stressful process of relocating with my family from Israel to Washington -- completing my transition from my former role as J Street’s Israel Director into my current role as our Chief of Staff.
Welcome, because it provides a much-needed opportunity to take a pause, catch a breath, and reflect on the past year and what comes next -- both for myself, but also for J Street and our pro-Israel, pro-peace movement.
Due to the COVID pandemic and so many other challenges, the year 5781 has been far from easy for any of us. Yet at the same time, we can also look back with pride at just how much we were able to accomplish.
Rewinding feels like going back a decade rather than 12 months.
This time last year, we were fully in election mode. We were doing absolutely everything we could to support our first-ever presidential endorsee, Joe Biden, and our largest ever slate of congressional endorsees.
Through phonebanks, virtual canvassing and fundraisers, we played our part in a shared, mass movement to end the unbelievably dangerous Trump presidency -- and to elect an administration and House and Senate majority that share so much of our diplomacy-first worldview and core Jewish, democratic values.
In April, we celebrated this new era with our first-ever all-virtual J Street National Conference. In the midst of a pandemic, many of us weren’t quite sure what to expect. Yet the Conference became one of our most popular ever, with a record-high of over 4,000 participants, exciting programming and artistic performances, and a dizzying array of major American, Israeli and Palestinian leaders, policy experts, activists and changemakers.
In the wake of that major event, we might have expected a few quiet weeks -- but that wasn’t to be. Instead, threatened evictions and crackdowns on protests in East Jerusalem helped trigger a horrifyingly intense escalation in Israeli-Palestinian violence, with exchanges of rocket fire and airstrikes between Israel and Hamas and unprecedented intercommunal violence in many of Israel’s “shared cities.”
My family spent this period running in and out of our neighborhood bomb shelter, praying the Iron Dome would protect our home and loved ones. Feeling anguished by the devastation, grief and pain being metered out on families in Gaza as we heard jet planes roar overhead.
At times of crisis, it’s easy to feel helpless, overwhelmed and overpowered -- but I drew strength from the round-the-clock work we were doing at J Street.
Together, we were the leading group in the United States calling for an immediate ceasefire and advocating more intensive, even-handed diplomacy from the Biden administration to help achieve one.
From the New York Times and Washington Post to MSNBC, we made clear that the US can and should do more to end the disastrous cycle of violence -- and helped ensure that the majority of Democrats in both the House and Senate echoed that critical message.
Giving voice to the majority of American Jews, we helped demonstrate that the US political debate on these issues has evolved for the better -- and that there’s more support than ever before for principled, balanced and bold US leadership to help resolve the conflict and end the occupation. We helped to show that you can support Israel’s security AND support Palestinian rights while working to end the cycle that threatens both peoples.
This seems as good a point as ever to make that High Holy Days fundraising pitch, so here it is:
Friends -- We need to build on the progress we’ve made this past year. We need to ensure we use the post Trump-Netanyahu era to lock in meaningful steps forward.
That’s the kind of critical work we need to press onward with in the year ahead -- and we simply can’t do it without your support. If you’ve valued the work we’ve done over the past year as much as I have, can you make a contribution to propel us into 5782 and help us meet our High Holidays fundraising goal?
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Friends, the new year of 5782 will bring both familiar challenges and exciting opportunities.
While at the start of last year we were still facing down the alarming far-right partnership of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, this year we have new and far more moderate governments in both countries.
Israel’s ideologically diverse new government provides a critical opportunity to reset the US-Israel relationship, and recenter it on democratic values, shared interests, cooperation and firm honesty around areas of disagreement and concern.
That means making clear that a strong, enduring US-Israel relationship will require seriously addressing the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict and moving toward an end to occupation. It means standing up to the Israeli prime minister as he opposes the two-state solution and promises to preserve an unjust, unstable and unacceptable “status quo.”
In the House and Senate, J Street will have the opportunity to push further with our advocacy for commonsense end-use restrictions on aid to Israel, as we aim to ensure that every dollar of our aid is used for Israel’s genuine security needs -- and not to further entrench the occupation.
Working with our friends and allies in Congress, in the administration, in the Jewish community and in Israel and the Palestinian Territory, we have a critical chance to focus on addressing the root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- and to help ensure that our own government is part of the solution, not part of the problem.
As I settle into my new role and my new city, I’m sometimes a little daunted by all the hard work that we have ahead of us, both in the United States and in the region. I will miss being there and working side-by-side with my Israeli and Palestinian friends and colleagues, fighting every day to create a better future for our families and communities.
But, as I feel the energy and hopefulness of Rosh Hashanah and new beginnings, I can’t help but feel optimistic about the work we will continue to do -- both here at home and in support of our Israeli and Palestinian allies, as we all work together to bring about a more democratic and just future.
With your support, J Street will be able to take key steps this year to make change and help build a better world.
So here’s the last time I’ll make the ask: If you feel able, please consider a donation to help us start off 5782 with the resources we need. Every bit counts.
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Thank you, and Shanah Tovah to you and your loved ones,
Adina Vogel Ayalon
Chief of Staff
