Hadassah is proud to support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. As we educate and advocate for a strong US-Israel relationship and the Jewish community, Hadassah continues to take a stand against rising antisemitism, anti-Israel rhetoric and false labels meant to demonize Israel and normalize hatred.
In July, Rep. Pramila Jayapal made public comments at an event calling Israel a “racist state.” Hadassah took action. Hadassah CEO Naomi Adler and President Rhoda Smolow issued a statement condemning Rep. Jayapal’s comments sharing false, antisemitic tropes and attacking Israel and the Jewish people’s right to self-determination. Hadassah was glad to see that the congresswoman walked back her remarks and grateful to the many members of Congress on both sides of the aisle who spoke out against this rhetoric and put forward their positive support for a strong and close US-Israel relationship.
Nine Hadassah leaders from Hadassah Pacific Northwest, including constituents of Rep. Jayapal, sent the congresswoman a letter outlining how her comments have real-world impacts on their lives and community. Hadassah members wrote, “Our community worries about our children when we drop them off at school and about the consequences of practicing our religion in public.” With a rise in antisemitic attacks across the country, false, inflammatory rhetoric like this poses a risk to the Jewish community and delegitimizes the Jewish right to self-determination.
Earlier this year, Hadassah made a strong statement pushing back on the United Nations Commission of Inquiry targeting Israel. Hadassah National President Rhoda Smolow and Hadassah CEO Naomi Adler commented that the Commission’s third report, issued in June, “overlooks history, distorts the facts, shows clear bias against the only Jewish state and attempts to denounce the widely accepted definition of antisemitism.”
Through strong grassroots engagement, Hadassah members are writing to and meeting with their legislators, asking them to support the COI Elimination Act, which will make it clear that the US opposes this unending investigation into Israel and cut the US share of the Commission's budget from our UN contributions. At the same time, members are advocating for important provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act that strengthen joint US and Israel security projects.
This spring, Hadassah issued a statement in support of the Biden administration’s first-ever National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism and was glad to see the strategy embrace the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which Hadassah proudly supports and has advocated for its inclusion as an essential tool in identifying and fighting antisemitism in all its forms.
Hadassah is committed to supporting Israel’s right to exist, strengthening the US-Israel relationship and advocating for government officials and organizations to reject anti-Israel rhetoric and antisemitism. We will continue to stand up to anti-Zionism, which emboldens antisemitism across the country and around the world.
Read Hadassah’s statement and the letter from Hadassah Pacific Northwest members responding to Rep. Jayapal’s remarks.