MK (Lt. Gen. Res.) Gadi Eisenkot, Yashar!
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Beyachad (Together)
MK Prof. Yousef Jabareen, HaReshima HaMeshutefet (The Joint List)
MK (Maj. Gen. Res.) Yair Golan, Hademocratim (The Democrats)
MK Mansour Abbas, Ra’am (United Arab List)
MK Avigdor Liberman, Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home)
Dear Honorable Party Leaders,
We write at this historical moment when each of you is called on to make bold decisions for your parties, for your constituencies and above all for Israel’s future.
We write in solidarity with all the citizens of Israel who have suffered since the brutal Hamas attack of October 7 and the ensuing war.
Our goal is to encourage all of you to work together to build a coalition for change that will serve Israel, Diaspora Jewry and relations between us.
Events since October 7 have emphasized how everything that impacts Israel profoundly impacts Jews around the world and vice versa.
Like a majority of Israeli voters and a large majority of Diaspora Jews according to recent polls, we believe the outgoing government caused great accumulative damage to Israel’s democracy, society and security.
Many of its policies and statements also eroded Israel’s standing in the community of democratic nations, including with the United States, its most important ally. It strained relations between our Jewish communities and our respective governments and fellow citizens. It weakened the connections between Israel and Diaspora Jews.
Together, these processes pose an existential danger to all our futures.
You have the historic opportunity to form a broad and stable coalition government that through its composition, policies and actions, can repair this damage and reverse the decline.
Given that Israel is the national homeland of the Jewish People, and the futures of Israel and world Jewry are intertwined, we call on each of you to begin the process of repair by forming a coalition in keeping with the vision set out by Israel’s founders in the Declaration of Independence. A coalition of parties committed to:
- Repairing Israel’s weakened liberal democracy and restoring the rule of law.
- Promoting a fairer society based on equal rights and obligations for the benefit of all citizens of Israel “without distinction of race, creed or sex” as set out in the Declaration of Independence. This commitment necessarily embraces the inherent legitimacy and welcomes the inclusion of parties representing Israel’s Arab citizens.
- Renewing the pursuit of secure peace with the Palestinian people; clearly and honestly acknowledging that true security and peace are interdependent.
- Strengthening partnership between Israel and Diaspora Jewry based on mutual respect and appreciation of our distinct perspectives and circumstances.
- Engaging in constructive diplomacy to rebuild bilateral relations with our elected governments in ways that are beneficial for Israel, our own countries and our Jewish communities.
We therefore encourage you to form with all parties who accept and are willing to work towards the above goals the coalition of change that Israel, its citizens and world Jewry so need.
While we embrace the idea of unity it can only be based on these principles. A so-called “Unity Government” that papers over fundamental disagreements over the future will not be able to govern effectively and lead the changes that Israel and the Diaspora need. Moreover, many years of repeated good faith attempts at unity governments have all ended in abject failure and stood in the way of change.
As Jews who live as minorities and rely on the safeguards provided us by liberal democratic norms, the last government’s incitement against Israel’s Arab citizens and its delegitimization of political partnership was anathema and harmful to us as well as to Israel. We believe this must now change.
We wish you all success in forming such a government of change. Further, we look forward to working in tireless partnership with you to advance the foundational values and strategic interests of both Israel and Diaspora Jewry.
Yours sincerely,
*This letter does not necessarily represent the views of all TLI members and subscribers.