On Unity: An Open Letter to the American Jewish Establishment

Don’t Allow Calls for Unity to Shut Down Dissent and Debate

Disagreements within the American Jewish community run deep.

The divides – whether over religious practice, what it even means to be “Jewish” or the relationship between Jewish identity and Israel – are real.

A solid chunk of our community is apparently willing to throw in with Donald Trump and the harder right fearing rising antisemitism in academia or on the pro-Palestinian left.

Others in Jewish America fear that the right is turning the critical work of fighting antisemitism into an assault on traditions and institutions we value – from higher education and immigration to democracy itself.

Like other peoples, Jews are all over the map – politically, religiously, culturally. We’ve got hard-right religious nationalists and ultra-orthodox anti-Zionists. Secular anti-occupation Zionists and plenty of folks who simply want to be ‘pro-Israel’ without being political.

Of course, the antisemite opening fire in a synagogue or near a Jewish museum makes no such fine distinctions.

So there’s logic when Jewish communal leaders respond to a moment of true terror – such as this past week’s horrific shooting in DC – with a straightforward call to “stop the infighting” and to stand together.

Count me ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with Jews across the political spectrum against hatred and violence – of all kinds. And I’m grateful that, often, such calls for unity do recognize the deep divisions within our community on critical issues.

But – I say to communal leaders – the tough part isn’t rallying for unity against those who mean us harm. The real challenge is putting into practice a commitment to tolerating disagreement when we’re done circling the wagons.

Will broad-based umbrella Jewish and pro-Israel coalitions offer a seat at the table to organizations vocally critical of the Israeli government actions and policy?

Will synagogues and other Jewish institutions stop making it difficult for clergy affiliating with J Street, Truah and other center-left groups to find and hold jobs?

Unity doesn’t mean conformity. Calls for unity shouldn’t become an excuse to stifle debate and critique. Our community will be stronger if we embrace those who dissent.

Never before in my life has dissent from what is happening – whether in Israel or in the US – been more desperately needed.

Rather than allowing calls for unity to stifle opposition to Netanyahu and his extremist government, Jewish Americans should feel emboldened so speak out.

We can take a cue that it’s OK to speak out from a former Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, who this week asked of the Netanyahu government’s Gaza policy, “What is it, if not a war crime.” Or we can look to Yair Golan, former Deputy Chief of Staff of the IDF and now leader of Israel’s Democrats, who called the Netanyahu government’s actions “unconscionable” and warned that Israel risks soon becoming a “pariah state.”

Let’s take inspiration from the vibrant movement of tens of thousands of Israelis in the streets – reflecting the majority of the Israeli public – who want an agreement now that ends the war and brings home the hostages.

I would venture to say that a large segment – possibly the majority – of Jewish America agrees with Olmert, Golan and the leaders of such mainstream groups as the Hostage Family Forum.

My friend and colleague, Daniel Sokatch, CEO of the New Israel Fund, argued this week that it’s not just that establishment leaders should ensure that there’s space for debate and dissent in the tent – he argues it’s the duty of those of us who really care about Israel to speak now: “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk.”

“If our Jewish communal institutions won’t support [the Israelis in the streets], “he writes, “it’s time for Jewish Americans to find new organizations that will.”

I am with Daniel. I am with Rabbi Rick Jacobs, head of the Union of Reform Judaism, who wrote a few weeks back in the New York Times that “Starving Gaza is Immoral.”

They and others are a small but vocal part of American Jewish leadership that understands you can support the state and people of Israel and vocally oppose what the government of Israel is doing.

I know Jewish communal leaders worry deeply about the damage that an open argument in Jewish America about Israel can do to our community.

I worry more about the impact on Jewish America of NOT having this argument. Of not standing up and saying that the path being pursued by Bibi Netanyahu and the Kahanists and racists in his government is beyond the pale.

We instill in our children and pass from generation to generation a code of ethics.

Justice, justice shall you pursue.

Don’t treat others the way you wouldn’t want to be treated yourself.

Fight oppression, hate and bigotry because of all we have learned from our own suffering and our own families’ histories.

So I say to the leaders calling for unity: even as we stand together ready to face down the scourge of antisemitism and hate, let’s not allow the desire for “unity” to be used to silence those ready to stand up for our values and against the radical extremism and horror that is this Israeli government.