In March 2024, then-Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) delivered an impassioned speech about Israel on the floor of the United States Senate. He spoke of “a silent majority” of American Jews, a group “whose nuanced views… have never been well represented in this country’s discussions” about the war in Gaza. Indeed, polling over recent months indicates that this silent majority is, like Schumer, torn between enduring kinship with Israel and deep concern about the conduct of its current government. 

If you are part of this group, I urge you to break your silence. I say this as an Israeli who has spent his career at high levels of the IDF and who is now watching my government act aggressively to destroy Israeli democracy, recklessly perpetuate a forever war and annex the West Bank. These actions undermine Israeli security, isolate the country and alienate world Jewry.  In short, they sound the death knell of modern liberal Zionism. 

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Lovers of Israel, leaders and donors: The time for silent hedging is past. Your voice is desperately important, especially this year when Israelis will vote on their next government. The outcome of these elections will determine which future Israel will pursue: will it be a messianic, theocratic-autocratic, apartheid, insecure pariah state, or will it reaffirm its embrace of the liberal-democratic Jewish tradition to be a member of the Western family of liberal democracies and a constructive partner in its own neighborhood? 

This Israeli understands why American Jewish leadership might remain silent, reluctant to make known their deeply felt views, perpetuating the paralyzing tradition of discouraging disagreement with any Israeli government for fear it will undermine U.S. support and provide ammunition to its enemies; often for fear that it also might fracture their own communities. Many may feel that, in principle, American Jews simply have no business telling Israelis how to run their country — even if it is to share the same opinions widely expressed by many Israelis.  

Moreover, many American Jewish leaders wonder if speaking their mind makes any difference, particularly when the current Israeli government seems uninterested in anyone who doesn’t support it, and whether the harsh censures from within their own community are worth enduring. Similar considerations often guide donors to continue funding traditional (albeit very important) projects and to refrain from supporting what might be deemed “controversial” attempts to break free of the status quo. 

I get all that. But it’s apparent that for most American Jews, it’s increasingly hard to ignore or rationalize away the Israeli government’s internal assault on democracy. Nor can they disregard its over-dependence on (often excessive) force and insufficient regard for humanitarian considerations and international law, all of which leave Israel only less secure. Likewise, it is no longer possible to let the slide toward West Bank annexation ride, in particular, the unconscionable escalation of government-enabled terror attacks by Jewish extremists. Before our eyes, Israel is becoming something very different from the Israel many American Jews have long respected, embraced and identified with. 

Non-citizens of Israel are, of course, not eligible to vote in our elections. But Diaspora Jews are legitimate and major shareholders in the Israel enterprise. It is the national home of the Jewish People, and just as it relies heavily on world Jewry, its actions have a real impact on the Jewish community worldwide. Indeed, Israeli law asserts that “The State shall act in the Diaspora, to strengthen the affinity between the State and members of the Jewish People.” Especially if you have misgivings about its current conduct, as major stakeholders you not only have every right but also the responsibility  to speak up and endeavor to influence the course of events. As leaders and donors, this is on you — now, before it is too late. 

As Jewish leaders and donors to Israel, you occupy unique positions of influence and potential impact. You should be using these to speak out publicly in the U.S. and in Israel; work with representatives and leaders in Congress to give them confidence to raise their voices; channel your support toward American and Israeli groups that have long been pursuing a return to liberal Zionist values; and effect community discussions to encourage American Jews in general to face the issues and join you in getting off the sidelines.

While much of American Jewish leadership keeps silent about Israel, many others, with varying views along the ideological spectrum and from across the globe have a lot to say about what it should do and be. The American government tells Israel what to do. So do the Europeans, the Qataris, the Turks, the far left and the far right. Why, then, should American Jews — and particularly their leaders — who have an enormous stake in Israel’s future, voluntarily take themselves out of this important conversation? Speak up now, before it is too late. To paraphrase Jabotinsky: “Silence is a quiet surrender to decay.”

Yoni Shimshoni is a retired IDF brigadier general and a leader with Commanders for Israel’s Security, a movement of nearly 600 former senior officials from the IDF, Mossad, Shin Bet, Israel police and foreign service.