Donations Matched: Fund the Fight for
Democracy, Equality and Human Rights
DONATE
Friend,
The two-state solution is as far away as it has ever been. Palestinian leadership is divided and weakened. This week, Israel will seat the most right-wing government in its history.
Let’s be honest: The work of J Street in 2023 will be fundamentally different from the work we set out to do when we started nearly 15 years ago.
In the coming months, this new government will likely look to cement permanent, undemocratic control of millions of Palestinians. They’ve been open about their plans to weaken the independence of Israel’s courts and to undermine rights for women, LGBT+ people, journalists, human rights activists and other minorities.
The question for J Street in 2023 is clear: What will the response be from the United States? How will America’s Jewish community respond? What will we ask of our government?
In Washington, J Street will make clear that a “business as usual” approach will be seen by the Israeli right as a green-light for their wildest dreams -- and our worst nightmares.
Together, we must press for leadership that draws strong red lines against human rights violations, discrimination, settler violence, settlement expansion and outright annexation. Leadership that applies clear standards to both Palestinians and Israelis and which champions democratic freedoms, human rights, diplomatic engagement and international law.
If you think this work is important, please help fund it. Your contribution of $18, $54, $90 or any other amount gives us the resources we need to take up this fight >>
In everything J Street does, we are clear that there is no contradiction -- whatsoever -- between supporting Israel's security and right to self-defense while also proudly championing human rights, democratic freedoms and international law.
Meanwhile, we know that loud voices in the Jewish community and on the political right will insist that America support the Israeli government “right or wrong,” no matter what it does.
These voices -- led by AIPAC and other legacy organizations -- say that the US should never criticize Israeli leaders in public, should provide only minimal oversight of the billions we provide to Israel while shielding it from international accountability for its policies and actions.
The playbook is always the same: Never mention the occupation. Ignore the injustice on the ground. Justify every right-wing decision with “security” -- even if those very decisions only make the situation worse and continue to put thousands of young Israelis in harm’s way.
It’s a vision that writes off support from the majority of Jewish Americans in favor of an alliance with the MAGA world in the US and the Orbans and autocrats of the global right. They’d rather label good-faith critics as “anti-Israel” than engage in a meaningful, long-overdue debate.
This isn’t some petty institutional squabble between AIPAC and J Street; it’s a fundamental clash of values and of vision.
If that fight is important to you, please help fund it. We don’t have right-wing mega-donors, so we’re counting on your contribution of $18, $54, $90 or any other amount >>
Donations processed immediately for Express Lane users.
We have work to do in our own communities as well.
We must present a clear vision for strong, pro-Israel leadership that offers an alternative to that of our opponents. We must press our leaders to demonstrate that the values we preach apply not just to everyone else, but also to the state that is the national homeland of our people.
We must ensure that the banner of “pro-Israel” never becomes an excuse for undercutting our democracy at home, or excusing atrocious behavior by right-wing leaders in Israel.
There is so much work to do. The stakes have never been higher. Precisely because we are mired in permanent occupation and the undemocratic and unjust one-state reality is upon us, the work of J Street is even more important.
You can be a part of that important work with an end-of-year contribution today >>
The only winners if we give in to despair and inaction are ethnonationalists, racists and demagogues who threaten not only Israel’s future, but also our democratic freedoms in America as well.
Thank you for your support this year; we’ll be counting on it in the year ahead.
Yours sincerely,
Jeremy Ben-Ami
President, J Street
