What Does It Really Mean To Be Pro-Israel?

Those who oppose J Street have spent considerable time and treasure pressing the point that we are “many things but not pro-Israel.” Here’s what it means for J Street to be pro-Israel.

Fifteen years ago at our inaugural National Conference, I promised that J Street would redefine what it means to be pro-Israel. Supporting Israel, I said, doesn’t mean providing unquestioning support for any and all policies and actions of the sitting government of Israel.

Being pro-Israel also does not mean being anti-anything, certainly not anti-Palestinian. In fact, if one believes Israel will only be secure, democratic in character and Jewish in nature when Palestinians have security, hope and a state of their own, one has to be pro-Palestinian rights – both individually to freedom and equality and collectively to self-determination.

Today, the debate over whether one group or another deserves the label “pro-Israel” seems desperately out of touch with the debate Jews who care about Israel actually need to be having over two radically differing paths being offered for Israel and the Jewish people.

Down one road – I’ll call it the “Netanyahu/Smotrich/Ben Gvir path” – lies an Israel guided by messianic ethnonationalism and a belief, as the Prime Minister has clearly articulated, that Israel will always live and die by the sword. It’s a vision that condemns our children and grandchildren to endless violence and bloodshed and, I believe, runs counter to the core values of the Jewish faith.

Down the other path lies an Israel that, yes, promises security to its people through strength, but even more so through diplomacy and cooperation; an Israel productively engaging with its neighbors on security, economics and more; an Israel rooted in its founding values of equality, freedom and justice and a commitment to liberal democracy.

For those who want to hear about this path, here’s a magnificent exposition delivered recently by the Leader of the Opposition Yair Lapid. And for those who think that this voice is marginal in Israel – just look at the latest polls. The current extremist coalition is polling at only 51 seats while the parties in opposition would get 69.

Here in the United States, I am convinced that the majority of Jewish America clearly aligns with the path that Israeli leaders like Lapid and Yair Golan are articulating – the path J Street endorses.

Some may still want to pursue a tired argument with J Street after 15 years over whether we are “pro-Israel.” Frankly that argument isn’t just tired, it’s insulting to those who’ve devoted time, treasure, sweat and tears over decades to ensuring a thriving Israel and US-Israel relationship grounded in our values.

I choose to focus on what it means to be pro-Israel in the 21^st century. And J Street will spend the coming years organizing the majority of mainstream Jewish Americans who agree on ten key principles for 21^st century Israel advocacy – each of which I’ll touch on here briefly and spell out in more detail in a series of upcoming posts:

1. Israel is the National Homeland of the Jewish People.

To quote the Pew Research Center: “Eight-in-ten U.S. Jews say caring about Israel is an essential or important part of what being Jewish means to them. Nearly six-in-ten say they personally feel an emotional attachment to Israel, and a similar share say they follow news about the Jewish state at least somewhat closely.”

There’s much to say about the kind of state that Jews in America hope Israel will be (just, pluralistic, democratic), but “anti-Zionism” remains a minority view, and J Street is among the overwhelming majority who believe in the Jewish people’s right to self-determination.

2. Palestine is the National Homeland of the Palestinian People.

The majority of American Jews understand that the Palestinian and Jewish peoples both call the same land home and each have legitimate claims to self-determination there.

Support for partition, separation, two states – call it what you will – has for decades run between 70 and 80 percent and remains there, even after October 7. There is broad consensus among Jewish Americans that Israel will only be secure, democratic and just when there is a state of Palestine living alongside it that is committed to peaceful co-existence and to working together to fight and defeat terror and extremism.

3. The US Should Provide Security Assistance to the State of Israel.

Jewish Americans overwhelmingly support providing military and security assistance to Israel, as the United States has for decades, not in the form of a blank check but subject to the same laws, rules and accountability that apply to all other US allies. For instance, those receiving our aid – including Israel – should not impede the delivery of humanitarian assistance in a conflict zone.

4. You Can Support Israel and Criticize Its Government’s Actions and Policies.

J Street feels deeply the pain and trauma that our Israeli friends and family experienced on October 7 and since. We mourn alongside them, we feel their ongoing fear, yet we join the hundreds of thousands in the streets of Israel calling on the government to prioritize an agreement to return the hostages over the illusory quest for “total victory.”

Even through the trauma of this war, our caring critique of the government is reflective of the 90 percent of American Jews who agree with the core proposition on which J Street was launched, that one can criticize Israeli government policies and still be pro-Israel.

5. Annexation and Settlement Expansion Endanger Israel and Its Democracy.

What I call the “Mainstream Majority” of Jewish Americans understands the danger of unconstrained settlement expansion on the West Bank. J Street represents that majority when we oppose the annexationist plans of the extremists in Israel’s government and the violence against and displacement of Palestinians by extremists in the settlement movement.

6. Democracy Must Be Protected – in the United States and Israel.

When J Street opposes efforts by autocratic, illiberal forces in the US and in Israel to undermine democratic institutions and the rule of law, we align with the mainstream of our community (and the majority of Israelis). We joined protests against last year’s judicial coup in Israel and, unlike AIPAC, we would never endorse or raise money for someone who tried to overturn an American election.

7. A Regional, Comprehensive 23-State Solution Will Secure Israel’s Future.

A once-in-a-generation opportunity is available to the state of Israel: regional acceptance by former enemies and normalization of its relations with nearly all its neighbors (and much of the rest of the world). We call it the “23-state solution” and it is time that concept replaces the more limited bilateral framework of two states that has run its course. This is the vision of the Abraham Accords and the Arab Peace Initiative. It’s the culmination of the dream outlined in Basel by Theodor Herzl. What’s critical to the plan is that it only happens if the 23^rd state in the region is Palestine.

8. Iran’s Threats Must Be Countered – by Multilateral Diplomacy and Deterrence.

Iran’s regime is a bad actor regionally and globally, and it abuses its people domestically. The majority of countries in the region want to join with Israel in deterring Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and from exporting terror and destabilizing the region. J Street and the majority of Jewish Americans supported the 2015 agreement that contained Iran’s nuclear program, and today we would support new diplomatic efforts to constrain the regime.

9. Antisemitism Must Be Fought Without Shutting Down Free Speech.

Nearly all Jewish Americans find the rising tide of antisemitism at home and globally deeply concerning. Violence and hate aimed at Jews - simply for being Jews - are genuinely terrifying.

However, guaranteeing personal and communal safety does not require conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism. Safety and security must be top governmental priorities and can be successfully assured while allowing protected speech, including criticism of Israel, to proceed, with reasonable restrictions on time, place and manner.

10. Everything Else Also Matters.

Supporting Israel and the US-Israel relationship is one important component of being a political voice for the majority of Jewish Americans, but it’s not the only one. Unlike AIPAC’s President, when asked whether there’s anything a candidate who supports Israel could support that would rule them out for J Street backing, I don’t hesitate. Candidates who are anti-democratic, anti-choice or climate deniers are out of line with Jewish opinion and values. They may be inside a broad pro-Israel tent, but they’re out of bounds for us. Supporting Israel-right-or-wrong won’t trump our concerns about the future of our country and planet.

Over the coming weeks, I’ll flesh out each of these ten principles in greater detail. They are rooted in the values on which J Street was founded. They represent the views of the majority of Jewish Americans and those who care about Israel more broadly. And they are the foundation of what it should mean to be pro-Israel in the 21^st century.