We applaud President Biden’s clear statement that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should “walk away” from his attempt to overhaul Israel’s judiciary. We agree wholeheartedly with the President that the Netanyahu government should not go down the road of eroding Israel’s system of checks and balances and other critical elements of its democracy.

In speaking out unequivocally against the Netanyahu government’s plans, President Biden has demonstrated he continues to be a champion of the US-Israel relationship by standing with the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have been protesting in recent weeks to save their democracy — and with millions of Jewish Americans and other supporters of Israel in the United States.

Democratic values form much of the foundation of the US-Israel relationship, and defending them is a key part of maintaining and growing that relationship. Israeli commanders and soldiers have been clear that this crisis of democracy is also rapidly becoming a crisis of security — and if our commitment to Israel’s security is truly ironclad, it means standing with those taking to Israel’s streets to protect it.

We also thank President Biden for making clear that there are no plans to invite Prime Minister Netanyahu to Washington in the near term, which would be inappropriate unless and until his government’s attempted judicial overhaul and other major attacks on Israel’s democracy are ended or resolved via consensus. We reiterate our hope that the President will soon be able to host an Israeli Prime Minister not actively engaged in a campaign to undermine Israel’s democracy and the values that underpin the critical US-Israel bilateral relationship.