Update: this action, now closed, ran in March 2014. 

When President Obama meets Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in the White House on Monday, their conversation will no doubt focus on two issues that are central to the Obama Administration’s foreign policy agenda: Iran and Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

Tell President Obama that you are a part of his constituency for peace. Make sure he knows that Americans who care about Israel have his back.

Update: this action, now closed, ran in January 2014. 

In October, the JCPA published a study reflecting the challenges that rabbis face in expressing their views on Israel. According to this report, about a third of rabbis are reluctant to express these views. Despite extraordinarily deep personal connections, too many rabbis have said that they feel overtly or implicitly pressured to withhold their views and thus are unable to fully serve their communities by teaching or speaking about Israel.

As rabbis and cantors, we mustn’t be afraid. We must engage our communities and speak the difficult truths that will be necessary if Israel's future is to be secure.

Americans for Peace Now, T'ruah, and J Street believe that for Israel to have a future as a Jewish and a democratic state - living within secure, defined and recognized borders - there must be a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel’s survival as a Jewish and democratic state can only be secured through stopping settlement expansion, ending the occupation, and negotiating a two-state solution. Secretary of State John Kerry - backed by President Obama- has made heroic efforts to bring all the parties to the negotiating table. Secretary Kerry has taken up the challenge of the Psalmist to “seek peace and pursue it,” but he cannot bring peace on his own. “We really are at a critical point,” said Secretary Kerry “as Palestinians and Israeli leaders grapple with difficult and challenging decisions that lie ahead.”

Join me in declaring that you will speak up for a secure Israel; one that does not occupy another people; and one that understands that the true threat to its existence is a lack of a Palestinian state.

As Jewish moral leaders, we must not underestimate the effect our voices can have. Now is the moment when we must loudly and clearly proclaim that it is because of our commitment to Israel that we stand up and act for the two-state solution. Now, while there is still time. “For Zion’s sake, I will not be silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not rest.” (Isaiah 62:1).

Add your name to our pledge, and after you sign on, we will provide you with resources from all three of our organizations that will help you communicate to your community the urgency of this moment and the necessity for all of us to speak out as Jews and as Americans.

L'Shalom,
Rabbi Alana Suskin
Director of Strategic Communications
Americans for Peace Now

Update: this action, now closed, ran from December 2013-January 2014. 

We knew the fight to keep Iran-focused diplomacy alive wasn't over - and we were right. Just before the Senate went home for the holidays, Senators Menendez (D-NJ), Kirk (R-IL) and a group of 25 colleagues introduced a new and highly problematic Iran sanctions bill in the Senate - S. 1881, ironically named the "Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2013." Over the holiday break, this bill was the focal point of a major lobbying effort, with AIPAC and other groups working intensively to get Senators to cosponsor the measure -- and this effort will pick up additional steam in the coming days.

Update: this action, now closed, ran from December 2013-January 2014. 

We knew the fight to keep Iran-focused diplomacy alive wasn't over - and we were right. Yesterday, Senators Menendez (D-NJ), Kirk (R-IL) and a group of 25 colleagues introduced a new and highly problematic Iran sanctions bill in the Senate - S. 1881, ironically named the "Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2013." This bill, introduced just before the Senate breaks for the year, will be the focal point of anti-diplomacy efforts for the coming period.

Over the past weeks and months, APN challenged you, over and over, to take action on the issue of Iran. In each case, APN activists took up the challenge, generating thousands of calls and emails to members of the House and Senate. These interventions came at exactly the right time and conveyed the same underlying message: Americans who care about Israel want Congress to give diplomacy with Iran a chance.

Update: this action, now closed, ran in December 2013. 

Only weeks ago we welcomed the achievement in Geneva of an historic agreement with Iran. This interim agreement opens the door for a final agreement that resolves U.S. and international concerns about Iran's nuclear program and ambitions. Such an agreement holds the promise of a more secure and stable Middle East, as well as positive impacts outside the region.

Tell your Representative and Senators: support the Obama Administration's ongoing diplomacy with Iran.

Update: this action, now closed, ran in November 2013.  

The situation is urgent. This week the Senate is debating and voting on amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (the NDAA, S. 1197) - a piece of "must-pass" legislation that has become a magnet for amendments promoting various ideological agendas, including the anti-Iran-diplomacy agenda.

Call your Senators today (toll free - (877) 429-0678). Tell them: OPPOSE amendments to the NDAA that would undermine the current diplomatic effort to deal with Iran.

Update: this action, now closed, ran in November 2013. 

Just as a diplomatic solution to the Iran crisis appears potentially within reach, and at a time when the Obama Administration is imploring Congress to give it the space it needs to test this possibility, pressure is mounting for Congress to push ahead with new sanctions against Iran. Some are arguing that putting a gun to Iran's head during negotiations while tying the hands of Obama Administration negotiators is a way of promoting successful negotiations.