{"id":882104,"date":"2026-10-14T15:02:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T15:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/882104\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T15:02:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T15:02:10","slug":"opinion-lay-leaders-in-the-united-states-who-love-israel-what-will-you-do-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/882104\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Lay Leaders in the United States Who Love Israel \u2014 What Will You Do Now?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Harry<\/a>Harry Kozlovsky<\/p>\n

Harry Kozlovsky<\/p>\n

For decades, many American Jewish leaders believed they could balance competing realities: support politicians whose broader policies aligned with their local interests, while trusting that bipartisan support for Israel would ultimately remain intact.<\/p>\n

That assumption has now collapsed.<\/p>\n

Continually, major Democratic leaders in the United States publicly accuse Israel of war crimes and genocide. Even recently, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore went further, asserting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not making Israelis safer, as though he knows how Israelis feel. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who has an obsession against Israel and its people, praised the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as a \u201cfunctional, verifiable agreement\u201d that successfully prevented Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security advisor for strategic communications and speechwriting under President Barack Obama, attacks Israel daily on X. All this terrible rhetoric does is embolden the antisemitism in the U.S. (and the world) and gives Iran and its proxies a license to continue to terrorize and murder Israelis.<\/p>\n

The deeper issue is this: American Jewish leadership can no longer avoid making difficult choices about where Israel truly fits within its priorities, alliances and public advocacy. As Prime Minister Netanyahu strongly pronounced at the U.N. recently, \u201cstand up!\u201d<\/p>\n

Orthodox Lay Leadership in Deep-Blue Cities<\/p>\n

For years, many Orthodox communal leaders have worked closely with Democratic elected officials in cities and states where Republicans have little realistic chance of winning. They hosted parlor meetings, mobilized support and helped strengthen political relationships that benefited Jewish communities locally.<\/p>\n

In return, communities often received vital security funding, educational support and assistance for Jewish day schools and communal institutions.<\/p>\n

Many justified this arrangement pragmatically. Even if their personal values aligned more closely elsewhere politically, they believed they had to \u201cplay the game\u201d to protect their communities.<\/p>\n

But now the equation has changed.<\/p>\n

If politicians you publicly support increasingly condemn Israel while Israeli soldiers risk their lives daily defending the Jewish state, where is the line? At what point do communal interests and moral convictions collide?<\/p>\n

What will you do now?<\/p>\n

Federation Leadership<\/p>\n

Federation leaders have long embraced the philosophy of building the broadest possible tent \u2014 welcoming Jews and non-Jews of every denomination, orientation, ideology and background in the spirit of tikkun olam.<\/p>\n

That inclusiveness helped build powerful institutions capable of raising enormous sums for vulnerable Jews, local communities and Israel itself.<\/p>\n

But many leaders now face a painful reality: parts of the broader social justice coalition they once viewed as natural allies have become openly hostile to Israel, and in some cases hostile to the very idea of a Jewish state.<\/p>\n

Education and dialogue remain essential. But is neutrality still possible when organizations or activists refuse to affirm Israel\u2019s right to exist?<\/p>\n

Will communal institutions begin drawing clearer moral boundaries? Will they ask harder questions before embracing every coalition partner in the name of inclusion?<\/p>\n

What will you do now?<\/p>\n

AIPAC Leadership<\/p>\n

For decades, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee built its influence on bipartisan support for Israel. Its leaders carefully avoided publicly attacking either political party, believing Israel\u2019s survival depended on maintaining allies on both sides of the aisle.<\/p>\n

That strategy once reflected political reality.<\/p>\n

But today, anti-Israel sentiment is no longer confined to the fringes of American politics. Many Jewish Americans increasingly fear that hostility toward Israel has moved closer to the mainstream within significant parts of the Democratic coalition.<\/p>\n

If bipartisan consensus continues eroding, can the old playbook still work?<\/p>\n

What will you do now?<\/p>\n

A Moment of Reassessment<\/p>\n

After Oct. 7, many Israelis concluded that, ultimately, Israel must be prepared to stand on its own \u2014 militarily, diplomatically and psychologically. Reliance on outside support can never substitute for self-reliance when national survival is at stake.<\/p>\n

Perhaps American Jewish leadership now faces its own moment of reckoning.<\/p>\n

Israel does not need only donations, speeches, more committees, or symbolic solidarity. Israelis also need clarity from Jewish leaders abroad about what role Israel truly plays in their identity, values and decision-making.<\/p>\n

Not merely in words. But in priorities. In alliances. In public action.<\/p>\n

The question is no longer theoretical.<\/p>\n

What will you do now?<\/p>\n

Harry Kozlovsky is a former 29-year Baltimore Jewish communal board member who made aliyah after Oct. 7<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Harry Kozlovsky Harry Kozlovsky For decades, many American Jewish leaders believed they could balance competing realities: support politicians…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":882105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[324799,23,803,370414,3,72582,77368,1767,1201,49502,111,21,19,22,20,25,24,48376],"class_list":["post-882104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-aipac","tag-america","tag-israel","tag-lay-leaders","tag-news","tag-op-ed","tag-op-eds","tag-opinion","tag-opinions","tag-politicians","tag-politics","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-voices"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=882104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/882105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}