4 August 2023
With the Knesset entering its long recess until the Jewish holidays end on Oct. 8, it is probable that Israel’s political temperature somewhat will decrease until then. Protest leaders have issued numerous appeals for the US government and American Jews to make their voices heard in opposition to the “judicial overhaul.”
In the US, we are also at an unusual moment vis-à-vis Israel. Organizations like Partners that have been sounding the alarm about annexation and the Israeli right wing generally are being joined, often hesitantly, by some of the mainstream organizations that usually defend anything the Israeli government does. Polls make clear that most American Jews do care about and support both Israel and its democracy, and recognize the “overhaul” as a serious attack on democracy and our concept of what Israel should be. Thus, Partners is in a particularly important position, as one of the organizations serving to channel strong American views to both the US and governments.
Another issue is US support for a normalization treaty between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The US is pushing it strongly, and one element of it must be support for a Palestinian state. IF (and that’s a big if) the US and the Saudis do agree and it contains support for Palestinian statehood, that would almost certainly break up the current Israeli coalition, since the far right could never accept that.
Thus, your support for Partners right now is particularly crucial and part of the larger picture of US-Israeli relations. US opinion matters! Please help us in our work TODAY!
Paul Scham
President, Partners for Progressive Israel
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It is time for the US to be objective!