As American Jews committed to Israel’s future as a secure, Jewish, and democratic state; to a robust U.S.-Israel relationship; and to Jewish peoplehood that fully encompasses Israeli and Diaspora Jewish communities, we are opposed to Bezalel Smotrich visiting the United States later this month in his capacity as Israel’s finance minister, and we call on all pro-Israel Americans to understand that welcoming Smotrich here will harm, rather than help, support for Israel.
Smotrich has long expressed views that are abhorrent to the vast majority of American Jews, from anti-Arab racism, to virulent homophobia, to a full-throated embrace of Jewish supremacy. To this list, we can now add his endorsement of violence against innocents based on their ethnic heritage.
We reject the notion that someone must be accorded respect simply by dint of serving in the Israeli government. His presence in the U.S. to address primarily Jewish audiences would be an affront to American Jewish values, and he should not be given a platform in our community, all the more so in light of his most recent comments about Huwara.
List of signatories with selective past/current affiliations for information purposes only:
Marie Abrams, former chair, Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Karen Adler, former chair, Jewish Communal Fund
Harold Akselrad, former co-president and general counsel, HBO
Rabbi Aaron Alexander, Adas Israel Congregation
Peter Alter, board member, Jewish Democratic Council of America
Talia Benamy, executive committee member, J Street NYC
Jeremy Ben-Ami, President, J Street
Lawrence Bender, Oscar-winning movie producer
Jack Bendheim, former chair, Israel Policy Forum
Lawrence B. Benenson, former Chairman of the Board of the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy
Amanda Berman, Founder and Executive Director, Zioness
Rabbi Jonathan Blake, Senior Rabbi, Westchester Reform Temple
Laurie Blitzer, board member, Moishe House, Birthright Israel Foundation; Past Vice Chair Hillel International
Stuart Blaugrund, president-elect, AJC Dallas
Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, CEO, The Rabbinical Assembly
Joel Breitkopf, board member, Jewish Democratic Council of America
Joel Breslau, former president of Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, DC
Rabbi Sharon Brous, founder and senior rabbi, IKAR
Jennifer Brodkey Kaufman, chair of URJ North American Board of Trustees
Stuart Brown, Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation
Nick Bunzl, former president, Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, former executive director of Israel Policy Forum
David J. Butler, former president, Jewish Federation of Greater Washington
Victoria S. Cook, founder, Torah Trumps Hate
Lester Crown, Crown Family Philanthropies
Thomas A. Dine, former executive director, AIPAC
Alisa R. Doctoroff, former chair, UJA-Federation of New York; past chair, Jim Joseph Foundation
Rabbi David Ellenson, former president of Hebrew Union College
Dede Feinberg, former president of Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, DC; past chair of the executive committee of Jewish Federations of North America
Irwin S. Field, former president, Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles
Jay K. Footlik, former White House Jewish liaison
Abraham H. Foxman, former national director, ADL
Lois Frank, former chair, Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Peter Frey, Vice-Chair and Chair-Elect, J Street
Barbara Friedman, former board chair, Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion
Marc Gary, former Executive Vice Chancellor of Jewish Theological Seminary
Michael Gelman, past chair, Jewish Federations of North America executive committee; past president of Jewish Federation of Greater Washington
Susie Gelman, chair, Israel Policy Forum
Dana Gershon, President, National Council of Jewish Women
Secretary Dan Glickman, former US Secretary of Agriculture
Barbara Goldberg Goldman, Vice Chair, Jewish Democratic Council of America
Jill Goldenberg, board member, Jewish Democratic Council of America; former President, Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston
Norman Goldstein, former president, Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, DC
Abner D. Goldstine, member, Israel Policy Forum Advisory Council
Robert Goodkind, former president, American Jewish Committee; board Israel Policy Forum
Sally Gottesman, chair, Encounter
Lawrence C. Gottlieb, board, Israel Policy Forum, former executive committee of UJA-Federation of New York
Stewart Gross
Steve Grossman, former chair, AIPAC
Rabbi Steve Gutow, former president and CEO, Jewish Council for Public Affairs
David A. Halperin, CEO, Israel Policy Forum
Michael M. Hamilton
Andrew Hauptman, member, Israel Policy Forum Advisory Council
Marcie Hermelin Orley, Past president of women’s philanthropy, Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
Mark Hetfield, CEO, HIAS
Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann, founder, Mishkan (Chicago)
Sara Yael Hirschhorn, historian and author, research fellow, ADL
Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt, senior rabbi, Adas Israel Congregation
Michael Horowitz, former president and CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta
Ada Horwich, board, JDCA; former board, AIPAC
Ambassador Martin Indyk, former U.S. ambassador to Israel
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president, Union for Reform Judaism (URJ)
Oren Jacobson, executive director, Project Shema
Rachel Jacoby Rosenfield, Executive Vice President, Shalom Hartman Institute of North America
Peter A. Joseph, former chair, Israel Policy Forum, former chair, JCC Manhattan
Rabbi Doug Kahn, Executive Director Emeritus of the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Relations Council
Jonathan Kamel, chair, IPF Atid
Joe Kanfer, former chair, Jewish Federations of North America; Honeymoon Israel
Rabbi Nancy Kasten, Chief Relationship Officer, Faith Commons
Sheila Katz, CEO, National Council of Jewish Women
Nancy K. Kaufman, chair, New York Jewish Jewish Agendal former CEO National Council of Jewish Women; former executive director, Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston
Evelyn Kenvin, former chair, Commission on Jewish People, UJA-Federation of New York
Priscilla Kersten, President, Square One Foundation, appointed by President Obama to U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council
Steven Kersten, CEO, Water Saver Faucet Co., member, Israel Policy Forum Advisory Council
Beth Kieffer Leonard, former president and Campaign Chair, Minneapolis Jewish Federation
Eric Kingsley, past board chair, ADL Los Angeles
Hon. Ronald Klein, chair, Jewish Democratic Council of America
Harold Kravitz, President, The Rabbinical Assembly
Stuart Kurlander, former president, Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, DC
Ambassador Daniel C. Kurtzer, former US Ambassador to Israel and Egypt
Yehuda Kurtzer, President, Shalom Hartman Institute of North America
Sheila Lambert, former president, JCC Manhattan
Sam Lauter, board member, Democratic Majority for Israel, A Wider Bridge
Marvin Lender, former chair, Israel Policy Forum; former chair, United Jewish Communities (UJC)
Alisa Levin, chair, Honeymoon Israel; executive committee member, Israel Policy Forum
Hon. Mel Levine, former Chair of House Foreign Affairs Committee
Rabbi Joy Levitt, former executive director, JCC in Manhattan
Mark Levitt, immediate past president of Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, DC
Dana Linden, executive committee member, Israel Policy Forum
Jonathan Lopatin, past president, Mechon Hadar; board, Encounter
Daniel Lubetzky, Founder, PeaceWorks Foundation & Lubetzky Family Foundation
Brian Lurie, former executive director of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco
Donald Meltzer, Chair, Shalom Hartman Institute of North America
Daryl Messinger, Chair, ARZA, board member, Israel Policy Forum
Ruth W. Messinger, former President, American Jewish World Service (AJWS)
Sharon S. Nazarian, President, Y&S Nazarian Family Foundation
Matt Nosanchuk, president, New York Jewish Agenda; former White House Jewish liaison
Geri Palast, founder and former co-executive director of the Israel Action Network
Debra Pell, former National Chair, UJA Young Leadership Cabinet; Current Board Member Encounter
Lois Perelson-Gross, Co-Chair of OneVoice and the PeaceWorks Foundation
Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Adena Philips, executive committee member, Israel Policy Forum; co-founder, IPF Atid; former global chair, AJC Access
Aaron Potek, Senior Rabbi of Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in Washington, DC
Martin Raffel, former Senior Vice President, Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Joseph Ravitch, Co-Founder and Partner of The Raine Group
Hon. Richard Ravitch, former Lt. Gov. of New York, former president, JCRC-New York
Seymour D. Reich, former Chairman, Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Organizations; former president, Israel Policy Forum
Rabbi Benjamin J. Resnick, The Pelham Jewish Center
Marcia Riklis, chair, Jewish Funders Network
Stephen K. Robert, Source of Hope Foundation
Richard Robin, board member, Israel Policy Forum
Elaine Rosen Hamilton, board JDCA; board JCC-Silicon Valley
Michele Rosen, former president, Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle
Rick Rosen, executive committee member, Israel Policy Forum, head of Television at Endeavor
Hannah Rosenthal, former Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism
Michael Rosenzweig, Vice Chair, Jewish Democratic Council of America, former president and CEO of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem; former president and CEO of the National Museum of American Jewish History
Rabbi David Saperstein, former U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom
Andrea Schneider, director of the Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution, Cardozo School of Law, and former chair of Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Jewish Community Foundation
Rabbi David A. Schuck, Beth El Synagogue Center
Barry Schwartz, Emeritus Vice Chairman of MacAndrews and Forbes Incorporated
John M. Shapiro, former president, American Jewish Committee, former president., UJA-Federation of New York
Steve Sheffey, president, Steven Richard Sheffey Consulting LLC
Yona Shem-Tov, CEO, Encounter
Arden Shenker, former chair, Jewish Council for Public Affairs
David Sherman, former chair, JUF-Chicago; former chair, Israel Action Network; executive committee member, Israel Policy Forum
Marc Slutsky, board member, Israel Policy Forum, founder Anshe Chesed Chicago
Karen Spar Kasner, former Chair, Government Relations, UJA-Federation of New York
Halie Soifer, CEO, Jewish Democratic Council of America
Alan Solow, Vice Chair, Israel Policy Forum; former chairman, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
Daniel Solomon, Vice President, Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation
Jeffrey A. Solomon, Bronfman Philanthropies; formerly UJA-Federation of NY
Amb. Alan Solomont, Chair, J Street
Carol Smokler, board member, Jewish Democratic Council of America former board, Jewish Agency and HIllel International
Debra Stein, board member, Jewish Democratic Council of America
Jeffrey M. Stern, former Treasurer, UJA-Federation of New York
Susie K. Stern, former chair, UJA-Federation of New York
Rabbi Michael Strassfeld, author and educator
Michael Tarnoff, former Executive Vice President and CFO, JUF-Chicago
Susan D. Wagner, board member, Jewish Democratic Council of America
Rabbi Josh Weinberg, Vice President of the URJ for Israel and Reform Zionism and is the Executive Director of ARZA
Modi Wiczyk, Co-Chairman and co-founder, MRC Studios
Lawrence A. Wolfe, past president, Detroit Jewish Federation; past Chair, Israel Bonds Campaign in Detroit
Robert Zahler, former president, Jewish Federation of Greater Washington
Hon. Dov S. Zakheim, former Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer for the Department of Defense
Michael Zaransky, former chair, JUF-Chicago
Harold S. Zlot, former President, Jewish Federation of San Francisco
