Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc., reaffirms its unwavering support for Zionism, for the State of Israel’s right to exist and for the right of the Israeli people to determine their own future.
The US and Israel have a longstanding strategic relationship founded on shared values and interests. This friendship benefits both countries through mutual security, shared intelligence and accelerated innovation and technology – including medical breakthroughs. Recently, several Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Morocco and Bahrain, have accepted Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and are building bridges to peace through strategic, economic and cultural ties with Israel.
Israel is a beacon of democracy in the Middle East: a home to a vibrant free press, an array of human rights organizations, a robust judiciary and a diverse multi-party parliamentary system that offers the right to vote to all citizens. Arab citizens of Israel make up 20 percent of the population and are represented in Israel’s legislature, the Knesset, and on Israel’s Supreme Court. Hadassah especially celebrates the diversity of physicians, nurses and other medical professionals in Israel, including at Hadassah’s Ein Kerem and Mount Scopus hospitals.
Growing antisemitism and anti-Zionism threaten Israel’s security, its citizens and the Jewish diaspora. As a secure and thriving homeland, Israel provides a refuge for Jewish people that may face persecution around the world. Israel endures constant attack from terrorist groups and hostile neighbors and, like other countries, must be able to defend itself and its people.
Anti-Israel and anti-Zionist campaigns deliberately spread misinformation, explicitly work to delegitimize Israel, and seek to bring an end to the Jewish state. These campaigns, which go beyond criticism of specific Israeli policies or politicians, are antisemitic because they assert that the Jewish people do not have a right to self-determination anywhere in the world.
Through education, advocacy and discourse, Hadassah is committed to declaring our Zionism with pride, changing current negative connotations of Zionism and empowering others to publicly claim their support for Israel. Hadassah reaffirms our commitment to educate and advocate for Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state, while fighting hateful and untruthful labels attributed to Israel.
Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America strongly urges:
- All supporters of Israel to publicly celebrate their connections to Zionism and the Jewish state, and to speak out about the vibrancy of Israeli society while correcting misconceptions about Israel.
- Lawmakers, members of Hadassah and the public to reject and denounce dangerous and inflammatory accusations of racism and apartheid meant to demonize the State of Israel.
- Members and leaders in the United Nations to condemn remarks that include false statements, promote antisemitism, or attack or delegitimize Israel.
- Congress to pull US funding from the United Nations’ Commission of Inquiry and make clear that the US opposes this biased, unprecedented investigation targeting Israel.
- Policymakers, organizations, companies and the public to continue to support Israeli commerce and products, and to refute the harmful Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement that seeks to target, isolate and delegitimize Israel.