Dear Mr. Prime Minister: 

We are Jewish millennial Zionists actively engaged in various facets of the North American Jewish community. We advocate in the halls of Congress for Israel’s security, oppose the BDS movement and other efforts to delegitimize the Jewish state, and fight anti-Semitic and anti-Israel voices on social media and throughout North America. Recognizing our place in the long chain of the Jewish people’s history and as rising leaders within our community, we are and will remain committed to strengthening and advancing Israel’s well-being as a secure, Jewish, and democratic state in the decades to come.

It is becoming increasingly challenging for us to do this important work. To be sure, we face many external challenges, as well as those from within our own community. However, we write today regarding our concerns and discontent with the policies, actions, and rhetoric of the Israeli government. These issues include legislative initiatives that threaten Israel’s democracy, the lack of progress on issues of religious pluralism, and the dangerous rise of Jewish extremism that can be seen through efforts to mainstream the Kahanist Otzma Yehudit party. We are also deeply troubled by Israeli government policies that diminish the possibility of a two-state solution and by the growing calls for Israel to annex parts of the West Bank.

Mr. Prime Minister, we urge you to address these worrisome challenges both in your AIPAC speech to the American Jewish community next week and in your capacity as head of Israel’s government. Specifically, we hope you will work to ensure Israel remains the homeland for all Jews and a state of all its citizens, affirm Israel’s commitment to democratic values and rejection of bigotry, and recognize the significance of the Diaspora community to Israel’s well-being and future. We ask you to articulate your vision for achieving a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the two-state solution and the concrete steps you will take to thwart activity that diminishes its viability. 

We hope you receive this letter in the spirit of constructive engagement and recognize how some of your government’s policies both strain our connection to the Jewish State and hamper our ability to advocate for Israel’s well-being. We believe that failing to address these issues in a meaningful way will be to the detriment to both of our communities and could seriously erode support for Israel among our generation of U.S. Jews, thereby threatening the sustainability of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship.

Signed,

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Adam Basciano, National Director, Israel Policy Forum’s IPF Atid

Talia Benamy, NYC Communal Engagement Chair, J Street

Benji Bernstein, Board Member, Yahel

Ross Beroff, IPF Atid New York

Ben Birnbaum, Israel Correspondent, The New Republic (2012- 2014)

Sean Blum, Trustee, Union for Reform Judaism

Raphael Brass, Ottawa, Ontario

Meredith Rose Burak, Chair of Public Private Partnerships, The Survivor Initiative

Rivka Cohen, Program Manager, Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance

Eli Cohn-Postell, Director of Israel Engagement, JCRC of Greater Boston 

Jacob Dockser, Young Leadership Board, FIDF West Region 

Labe Eden, Individual Gifts Manager, Union for Reform Judaism

Russell Eida, Writer, Netflix/Showrunner

Adeena Eisen, Program Associate, Israel Policy Forum

Shannon Eli, IPF Atid Los Angeles

Molly Ellenberg, IPF Atid Washington, DC

Cameron Erickson, 2018 Bronfman Convener, IPF Atid

Aryeh Ethan Falk, IPF Atid New York

Leslie Finkel, Chicago, IL

Kathryn Fleisher, College Strategic Leadership Team, Union for Reform Judaism 

Peter Fox, Young Leadership Board, A Wider Bridge

Kevin Frankel, Former President, UC Davis Hillel (2004)

Ben Gitles, Israel Sector Chair, University of Pennsylvania Hillel (2014)

Rachel Goldberg, Director of Community Relations, Consulate General of Israel to New England (2015-2017)

Joe Goldman, Public Affairs & Civic Engagement Manager, JCRC of San Francisco (2015-2018)

Miki Golod, National Program Director, Ameinu

Daniel Goodkind, IPF Atid New York

Brianna Goodlin, 2018 Bronfman Convener Co-Chair, IPF Atid

David Goodstone, Public Affairs Director, Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest (2012-2015)

Benjamin Gould, IPF Atid Chicago

Alyssa Gorenberg, Emergent Givers Chicago Co-Chair, Union for Reform Judaism 

Amanda Guilardi, IPF Atid Washington, DC

Rachel Danielle Gutson, IPF Atid Los Angeles

Alex Hamilton, Rabbinical Student, Jewish Theological Seminary

Omer Hariri, IfNotNow 

Chris Harrison, Writer/Editor, Union for Reform Judaism

Isaac Hasson, 2018 Bronfman Convener Co-Chair, IPF Atid

Andrew Hirsh, Senior Copywriter, Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston

Rabbi Rachel M. Isaacs, Assistant Professor, Colby College

Daniel Jeydel, Trustee, Union for Reform Judaism 

Mallory Kahn-Johnston, Philanthropy Associate, Women of Reform Judaism 

Jonathan Kamel, Chair, IPF Atid Chicago 

Lee A. Kaplan, Los Angeles, CA

Andrew Keene, Board of Governors Member, Jewish Agency for Israel 

Tara Khoshbin, Communications and Project Coordinator, Creative Community for Peace (2015- 2018)

Joshua Krug, Instructor, New York University

Ethan Lane-Miller, Assistant Camp Director, Union for Reform Judaism

Julien D. Lederman, Chair, IPF Atid New York

Alexander Leopold, Student Foreign Policy Lead, Roosevelt Institute

Shaya Lerner, Assistant Director of Middle Eastern Affairs, ADL

Amanda Levine, Program Officer, Chasbro Investments 

Jonathan Lipton, Area Director, AIPAC (2014-2017)

Alyson Malinger, Advocacy and Communications Associate, Women of Reform Judaism

Michelle W. Malkin, Manager of Philanthropy,  Women of Reform Judaism 

Adam Moscoe, 2018 Bronfman Convener, IPF Atid 

Rabbi Danny Moss, Assistant Rabbi, Temple Israel of Westport 

Elad Nehorai, Co-Leader, Torah Trumps Hate

Adena Philips, National Chair, Israel Policy Forum’s IPF Atid

Daniel Pincus, New York, NY

Noah Podolnick, College Task Force Member, Union for Reform Judaism

Samantha Pohl, Development Director, Israel Policy Forum

Rabbi Aaron Potek, Washington, DC 

Shanie Reichman, Strategic Initiatives Associate, Israel Policy Forum

Ian Roozrokh, URJ College Leadership Team

Zev Rose, IPF Atid New York

Daniel Rosove, Program Director, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger 

Emily Rothstein, Graduate Student, USC

Sam Rubin, Presidential Fellow, Union for Reform Judaism

Adam Rubenfire, Young Adult Division Co-Chair, Anshe Emet Synagogue

Jeffrey Rum, National Young Leadership Cabinet Co-Chair, JFNA (2017-2018)

Zak Sawyer, Assistant Director, AIPAC (2014-2017)

Zachary Schaffer, Jewish Caucus Chair, Brooklyn Young Democrats (2017-2018)

Zach Schenk, IPF Atid Washington, DC 

Hannah Schlacter, Resident, Moishe House SF Dolores

Coby Schoffman, Founder & Executive Director, The Nation Foundation 

Bari Schwartz, Special Events and Operations Director, Israel Policy Forum

Joshua Schwartz, Board Member, Ameinu

Rabbi Rami Schwartzer, Washington, DC

Russell Semmel, Attorney, Arent Fox LLP

Zach Shartiag, Israel Education Professional, Boston, MA

Jenna Shaw, Rabbinical Student, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies 

J. Micaela Sheinhait, Program Associate, Women of Reform Judaism

Yaniv Shmukler, Member, Indianapolis JCRC

Tema Smith, Director of Community Engagement, Holy Blossom Temple 

Alexandra Stabler, Chair, IPF Atid Los Angeles 

Nick Stabler, MBA Student, UCLA

Aaron D. Stein, Member, Anshe Emet Synagogue

Illana Stern, Board Member, JCRC/AJC of Detroit 

Rabbi Josh Strom, Congregation B’nai Yisrael

Rachel Sumekh, Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs (2017)

Kyle Sussman, IPF Atid Chicago

Jack Sztrigler, National Outreach Director, Embassy of Israel to the United States (2014-2017

Ben Tannenbaum, IPF Atid Chicago

Jason Taper, Student Executive Cabinet Campus Relations Chair, Texas Hillel (2017-2018) 

Aaron Torop, Legislative Assistant, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

Jake Velleman, Lay Leader/Professional Staff, Birthright Israel North America

Rebecca Voorwinde, Executive Director, The Bronfman Youth Fellowships

Scott Weiner, Middle East Discussion Group Chair, Young Professionals in Foreign Policy

Aaron Welcher, Communications Director, Indianapolis JCRC

Jordan Z. Weiss, Board Member, JCRC/AJC of Detroit

Alex Willick, Regional Assistant Director, J Street (2014-2017) 

Casey Wright, Teen Israel Program Recruiter, Union for Reform Judaism

David A. Yarus, Founder, JSwipe 

Rachel Zaurov, Development & Communications Associate, The Abraham Initiatives