NEW YORK – In advance of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s planned address to the Knesset, T’ruah, a rabbinic human rights organization representing over 2,300 rabbis and cantors in North America, anticipates his message will sow further division in the conflicts surrounding judicial reforms and human rights.
In a statement, Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah, said:
“Speaker McCarthy has failed to stand up to anti-democratic forces domestically, and now he’s planning to take his failure of moral leadership on the road. While hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been on the street for months protesting the Netanyahu government’s anti-democracy, pro-occupation agenda, and the organizations that represent the majority of American Jews have denounced this government’s plan to destroy the judiciary, the Speaker has doubled down on his support of the prime minister.
“The Speaker’s support for anti-democratic measures represents a moral failure as challenges to democracy are continuing in both the U.S. and Israel. At a time when political violence and division are increasing, steps must be taken to ensure that rights for all under a functioning democracy are protected and embraced. Speaker McCarthy’s message should also not undermine the U.S.’s long-standing opposition to annexation as well as its ongoing commitment to a negotiated two-state solution.
“Right now we are reading the book of Leviticus, which lays out the laws for the Israelites to form a just society — laws that ensure people won’t be subject to the whims of leaders. Legislators today should heed these lessons by prioritizing justice over political expediency.
“Speaker McCarthy’s visit does not inspire confidence from the American Jewish community, who for the last several weeks have been taking to the streets in New York and Washington, D.C. in solidarity with pro-democracy Israeli protesters. Nevertheless, our hope is that Speaker McCarthy will use his address to the Knesset as an opportunity to show support for democracy, rather than prop up the far-right ministers seeking to dismantle it.”
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights mobilizes a network of more than 2,300 rabbis and cantors from all streams of Judaism that, together with the Jewish community, act on the Jewish imperative to respect and advance the human rights of all people. Grounded in Torah and our Jewish historical experience and guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we call upon Jews to assert Jewish values by raising our voices and taking concrete steps to protect and expand human rights in North America, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.