Legacy Organizations’ Intervention In Israeli Judicial Reform Debate Raises Concerns

Anti-Zionist Jews opposing Israel held a protest against Israel during the annual Israeli Day Parade on fifth avenue in New York, United States on June 4, 2023. On the other hand, he largest and most influential of the groups that have always claimed to speak for American Jewry were not shy about expressing an opinion about what was, strictly speaking, a purely domestic issue. PHOTO BY LOKMAN VURAL ELIBOL/GETTY IMAGES  

For American Jewish liberals and the legacy organizations they dominate, the impulse to take sides in a debate that is polarizing Israeli politics was irresistible. 

So, it was unsurprising, if disappointing, to see with what eagerness they weighed in on this week’s Knesset vote on the first part of the judicial reform package put forward by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.