Alex Soros among 160 Jewish leaders urging Biden to ‘send clear message’ to Netanyahu
Actors Mandy Patinkin and Joshua Malina also signed the letter. Photo by Getty Images
This article originally appeared on Haaretz, and was reprinted here with permission. Sign up here to get Haaretz’s free Daily Brief newsletter delivered to your inbox.
Alex Soros, the 37-year-old Democratic heir to George Soros’ philanthropic empire, joined more than 160 left-wing Jewish leaders in a letter urging U.S. President Joe Biden to adopt a more proactive track on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“The current Israeli government’s campaign is so severe and so consequential that it merits a proportionate reaction by Israel’s chief ally, the United States of America,” wrote former members of Congress, diplomats, establishment group board members, leading cultural figures and rabbis.
Among the signatories on the letter are Hollywood and Broadway actors Mandy Patinkin and Joshua Malina. Soros’ presence on the letter is notably significant, given his history of criticizing Israeli government policy and advancing left-wing causes.
Since taking over control of his father’s $25 billion empire, there has been growing speculation that he would be more actively involved in Jewish and Israeli matters considering both his philanthropic record and previous public comments.
Soros, who chairs the Open Society Foundations, said that “Americans who care about Israel are horrified to see the government assault on the state’s democratic norms and institutions. President Biden’s concerns went unheeded. The time has come to take action to protect Israel’s democracy and America’s interests in the region.”
The letter comes as U.S.-Israel ties have encountered a variety of stress tests thanks to the Netanyahu coalition’s judicial overhaul, policies relating to the Palestinians and damaging a potential two-state solution.
While the U.S. has endeavored to say that ties are not being formally reassessed and the relationship remains unbreakable, concern has only grown that Israel’s current track endangers its most important geopolitical relationship.
They urged Biden to take “concrete action” to send a clear message to Netanyahu’s government that “its actions come with a price. Where there are fewer shared values, the special relationship becomes less special.”
The letter, organized by Americans for Peace Now, notes that Biden’s previous warnings against Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul failed to prevent his far-right coalition from pushing the contentious plan forward.
“As a result, we now find ourselves at a critical juncture where further actions are necessary to safeguard the democratic values the U.S.-Israel relationship is founded upon,” they write.
Noting that Netanyahu’s government considers the bilateral relationship more than the domestic protest movement, the leaders offered a series of concrete measures the Biden administration could take.
These include steps directly related to the news cycle such as appointing a new U.S. ambassador to Israel and ensuring Israel meets all requirements before considering its admission into the visa waiver program.
They also note other steps related to reversing Trump administration policy such as reopening the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, elevating the Palestinian diplomatic mission in the U.S. and restoring U.S. customs guidance differentiating between West Bank settlements and greater Israel.
Beyond this, they note further forward-thinking actions like no longer automatically preventing efforts to hold Israel accountable at the United Nations and communicating to Israel that the evolving state of Israeli democracy will figure into upcoming deliberations on the next ten-year memorandum of understanding relating to foreign aid.
“We firmly believe that taking these specific actions will underscore the United States’ commitment to democratic values, human rights, and peace in the region. By leveraging the U.S.- Israel special relationship, we can encourage Israel’s government to reevaluate its current trajectory and uphold the founding values of democracy, freedom, justice, and peace,” they write.
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten added that “Biden stands for democracy at home and around the world. Israel needs him now, to embrace all who are fighting to protect and deepen democracy at such a critical time.”
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