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