How We Fight Trump

Adina Vogel Ayalon
on November 11, 2024

You’re not alone.

J Street’s polling, the largest survey of Jewish voters, showed that over 70% of the community voted for Kamala Harris and opposed Donald Trump. Jewish Americans remain one of the most steadfast anti-MAGA voting blocs.

At J Street, we’re committed to being a political home for the mainstream majority of American Jews and other pro-democracy voters who face tough days ahead. We’ll proudly stand up for our community’s values.

Together, we’ll lead the Jewish opposition to Trump’s extremist MAGA, Project 2025 agenda that threatens our freedoms, our values, our safety and everything we hold dear.

In Israel, we’re bracing for an unrestrained Netanyahu who’ll soon have full White House backing for his pro-war, anti-democratic, annexationist agenda. We’re deeply concerned that he and his far-right partners will take this as a green light to inflict yet further devastation on civilians in Gaza, resume their assault on Israel’s democracy, abandon hostage negotiations, and move forward with annexation in the West Bank and settlements in Gaza.

It’s a nightmare scenario.

With Congress returning to Washington on Tuesday and the White House transition underway, we wanted to share more details of our plans – because the work starts now.

First and most urgently, J Street has assembled a raft of actions President Biden can take now to improve humanitarian aid access, reinforce American and international legal safeguards, restrain far-right extremists, and help return hostages to their families and end the war.

President Biden is a Commander in Chief with real international influence, and he’s got a powerful window of opportunity to impact the situation on the ground for the better. We believe he must use it.

Our most immediate focus will be a 70-day campaign to press the administration to urgently act on our recommendations. To learn more about what can be done – and add your name to our petition to the president – click the link here.

While it may not be the primary focus of our advocacy, we will be supporting similar immediate, irreversible actions on other issues we care about: From Ukraine to reproductive rights to climate change.

Second, following a horrifically racist, misogynistic and antisemitic campaign – with anger spewed at Jews for supporting Democrats and threats of mass deportations – we know that minority and marginalized communities are on the frontlines. Now is the time for solidarity.

J Street is committed to partnering with allies and strengthening coalitions to fight like hell for our safety, our freedoms, our communities and our values.

We’ll also strengthen ties with our pro-democracy, pro-peace allies in Israel: Amplifying their voices, fighting for Israel’s democratic future, opposing the anti-democratic, pro-annexation Trump-Netanyahu agenda, and standing up for what’s right.

In the aftermath of this devastating loss, we can expect some challenging debates within the pro-democracy coalition too – and we can bank on that including a focus on the party’s approach to Israel-Palestine.

For our part, J Street has consistently advocated for a balanced, nuanced, principled approach that can hold the broad democratic coalition together – including mainstream pro-Israel and pro-Palestine movements – and we’ll continue to press for this in the debates to come.

Third, we’ll be honest: Charting a path out of this calamity for our country and the region will be challenging. But J Street is ready for the fight.

We’ll work with allies in Congress and beyond. We’ll build bridges, strengthen coalitions, and amplify our impact. We’ll rally a movement that now has far more supporters than eight years ago. We’ll be a mainstream voice: A voice of sanity, honesty, reason and compassion.

And even as we fight immediate battles, we’ll get to work building the infrastructure to defeat MAGA leaders in future elections, shape policy within the Democratic Party, and support the next generation of pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy leaders.

There are lessons to be learned in the days, months, and years ahead, and we’ll make sure they’re the right ones.

With our nuanced, constructive approach, we’ll make the case that strong, clear leadership – that never compromises our values and truly fights for the humanity of both Israelis and Palestinians – offers the best path forward on both the politics and policy of Israel-Palestine.

The fight continues. With the stakes this high, we must turn our anger into action.

Read, sign and share our petition to President Biden for immediate, consequential action.

Thank you, sincerely, to our entire community for your ongoing support and consideration. In this deeply painful moment, I’m so grateful to stand shoulder-to-shoulder alongside you.

Let’s not give up the fight.

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