Ameinu, Americans for Peace Now, Habonim Dror North America, Hashomer Hatzair, The Jewish Labor Committee, J
Street, The New Israel Fund, Partners for Progressive Israel, Reconstructing Judaism, and T’ruah Join Together To
Support Progressive Vision For Israel
Today, ten leading organizations representing Americans who are committed to pursuing democracy, equality and peace
in Israel announced the launch of the Progressive Israel Network. The new coalition will provide a strong, unified
voice in support of its members’ common goals: democracy and equal rights, religious freedom and pluralism, and a
two-state solution that would secure a peaceful future for Israel and end the 52-year-long occupation.
The Network will weigh in on the significant challenges that face Israel and the US-Israel relationship. It will
coordinate campaigns designed to mobilize the majority of American Jews who share its progressive values and goals,
support the work of Israeli progressives, and urge the US government to adopt policies that further
Israeli-Palestinian peace. The Network will fight against US and Israeli policies that promote annexation, entrench
occupation and undermine liberal democracy in Israel.
With Israel heading into another round of contentious elections and the Trump administration advancing a dangerous
so-called peace initiative in the region, the Network will cooperate closely to defend the core principles of
democracy and diplomacy. The Network will also run a joint list for the upcoming elections to the 38th World
Zionist Congress, because the time has come for our institutions to reflect our values.
The network’s founding members are Ameinu, Americans for Peace Now, Habonim Dror North America, Hashomer Hatzair,
The Jewish Labor Committee, J Street, The New Israel Fund, Partners for Progressive Israel, Reconstructing Judaism,
and T’ruah. The organizations have chosen this moment to launch because of the extreme peril that far-right leaders
and parties pose to the fundamental values on which the State of Israel was founded and that American Jews hold
most dear.
In its Statement of Principles, the Network writes, “Our values and commitments make us proudly progressive and
proudly pro-Israel and speak for the majority of Jews around the world.” These values are deeply rooted in the
spirit of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, which enshrines the Israeli government’s sacred duty to provide
“complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants.”
The full Statement of Principles is below.
This group of organizations has worked together for a number of years on an ad hoc basis. Some of its joint work
includes a post-election
message to President Donald Trump demanding that he reject anti-Semitism and all forms of
discrimination;
a letter denouncing Israel’s Nation State Law sent to twelve members of the Israeli opposition; a
pledge for American Jews to ask Knesset members who voted for this discriminatory and undemocratic law
why they voted for it; and a
letter to the American Jewish community affirming that the racist Kahanist party does not belong in
Knesset and asking other Jewish community leaders to do the same.
