Israel must stop advancing policies that distance Reform Jews simply because they live their Judaism as we do
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, traveled to Israel bearing a warning that carries the weight of a long and complicated love: that a nation cannot claim to be home for all Jews while legislating against how millions of them pray. Speaking amid Knesset bills that would criminalize non-Orthodox worship at the Western Wall and restrict citizenship rights for non-Orthodox converts, Jacobs cautioned that the bipartisan American support Israel has long relied upon is quietly fracturing — not from indifference, but from the accumulated strain of contradictions that younger generations are no longer willing to quietly absorb.
- Israeli legislation advancing through the Knesset would place the Western Wall under Orthodox authority alone, potentially making Reform Jewish prayer at Judaism's holiest site a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment.
- The bipartisan American consensus that has anchored decades of US support for Israel is visibly cracking, with both Democrats and Republicans now voicing doubts that would have been unthinkable a generation ago.
- Young American Jews are not turning away from Israel, but they are asking harder questions — about the war's end, settler violence in the West Bank, and whether a government can claim democratic values while restricting who counts as Jewish.
- Antisemitism in the United States has surged to the point where Congress has allocated nearly a billion dollars for Jewish community security, yet Jacobs insists American Jews must remain visible and proud rather than retreat into concealment.
- Jacobs warns that rebuilding bipartisan support for Israel, if these legislative trends continue, may prove not merely difficult but effectively impossible — a threshold, once crossed, that cannot easily be uncrossed.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs arrived in Israel with a message that was both a defense and a warning. As president of the Union for Reform Judaism, he had come partly to shore up American support for the Jewish state — a task growing harder by the month — but he found himself confronting legislation that seemed to undercut the very argument he was trying to make.
The Knesset was advancing bills that would hand full control of the Western Wall to the Chief Rabbinate, effectively criminalizing non-Orthodox prayer at Judaism's holiest site and threatening prison sentences for those who practiced it. Separate legislation would deny citizenship under the Law of Return to converts who had undergone non-Orthodox ceremonies anywhere in the world. For Jacobs, the contradiction was impossible to ignore: Israel could not claim to be a home for every Jew while passing laws that treated millions of Jews as practicing their faith illegally.
The erosion of American support, he said, was real and measurable. While the vast majority of American Jews still backed Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, the bipartisan consensus that had anchored that support for decades was fraying. Democrats were showing cracks; Republicans, once reliably aligned, were asking new questions. Even conservatives who had supported the Trump administration were wondering whether it truly served Israeli interests. The assumption that Washington would always deliver what Israel needed no longer held.
Younger American Jews were not abandoning Israel — hundreds of Reform youth were in the country during his visit — but they were asking harder questions about the war, settler violence in the West Bank, and what democratic values actually meant in practice. These were the questions of people still engaged, still invested, but no longer willing to set aside their concerns.
Jacobs also addressed the surge of antisemitism at home, where Congress had allocated nearly a billion dollars for Jewish community security after attacks on synagogues and institutions across the country. He insisted on careful distinctions: some pro-Palestinian activism was genuinely about human rights, while other expressions were rooted in hatred. Blurring those lines, he argued, was both misleading and dangerous. What mattered was that American Jews remain visible and refuse to hide.
On the state of the relationship between Israel and the diaspora, Jacobs stopped short of calling it a deep crisis — but he did not minimize the tension. Americans understood the difference between loving a country and disagreeing with its government. What he could not accept was a government that failed to see what was plainly in front of it: that Reform Judaism, with roughly two million American adherents and the largest Zionist organization in North America, was not a movement in decline. It was growing. And it was not asking to be welcomed so much as asking to stop being legislated against. Restoring the trust that had been lost, he warned, would require an enormous effort — and if the current legislative course continued, perhaps more than any effort could repair.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs arrived in Israel carrying a difficult message. The president of the Union for Reform Judaism, visiting from North America, found himself in the position of defending his people's support for the Jewish state while simultaneously confronting legislation that seemed designed to exclude them. The tension was not abstract. The Knesset was advancing bills that would place all Western Wall procedures under the Chief Rabbinate's authority—effectively criminalizing non-Orthodox prayer at Judaism's holiest site and potentially imposing prison sentences on those who practiced it. At the same moment, lawmakers were considering changes to the Law of Return that would deny citizenship to converts who had undergone non-Orthodox conversion ceremonies anywhere in the world.
Jacobs had come to Israel partly to rally support for the country among American politicians and the broader public, a task that had grown harder by the month. The erosion was real and measurable. While nearly 90 percent of American Jews still strongly supported Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, the ground beneath that support was shifting. Democrats remained largely committed, but cracks were widening. Republicans, once reliably aligned with Israeli interests, were showing signs of fracture. The bipartisan consensus that had anchored American support for decades was fraying, and Jacobs believed the current Israeli government was accelerating the damage.
The problem, as he saw it, was straightforward: Israel could not simultaneously claim to be a home for every Jew while passing laws that criminalized how millions of Jews practiced their faith. "There are efforts by the Foreign Ministry and consulates to build bridges," he said, "but we also need policies that honor the commitment that Israel will be a home for every Jew." The contradiction was not lost on American Jews, particularly younger ones. They were not abandoning Israel—hundreds of young Reform Jews were in the country at that very moment—but they were asking harder questions. When would the war end? Would it make Israel safer? What about the ongoing violence by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, violence that seemed to proceed without adequate response from authorities? These were not the questions of people turning away. They were the questions of people trying to reconcile their love for a nation with concern about its direction.
Jacobs also confronted a different kind of threat: the rise of antisemitism in the United States. Congress had allocated nearly a billion dollars for Jewish community security—synagogues, federations, summer camps, infrastructure. He had visited Reform congregations in Mississippi and Michigan that had been attacked. Jewish institutions could not shoulder the burden of protection alone. Yet even as antisemitism surged, Jacobs insisted on precision in how Americans discussed it. Some pro-Palestinian protests were genuinely about human rights and coexistence; others were effectively pro-Hamas or rooted in old hatreds of white supremacy. The public discourse often blurred these distinctions, which was misleading and dangerous. What mattered was that American Jews continue to be proud, to wear their identity openly, and to refuse to hide.
On the question of whether the relationship between Israel and American Jewry was in crisis, Jacobs offered a careful answer. Not a deep crisis, he said, but real points of tension. The connection was to the State of Israel and its people, not necessarily to the government. Americans understood that distinction well—you could love a country and disagree with its leadership. What troubled him was the broader trend. Even conservative Jews who had fully supported the Trump administration were now asking whether it truly protected Israeli interests. The clarity that had once seemed to exist about American commitment to Israel had faded. There were questions about Iran, about Lebanon, about Hezbollah on the northern border. The assumption that Israel would always get what it wanted from Washington no longer held.
Yet Jacobs refused pessimism about the Reform movement itself. The idea that Reform Jews were assimilating was something many Israelis repeated without understanding the reality. In fact, the movement was growing. About two million Americans identified with Reform Judaism, making it the largest Jewish movement in the United States. The movement was also the largest Zionist organization in North America. If the Israeli government did not see that, Jacobs said, then it simply was not seeing correctly. His people were not distancing themselves from Israel. They were not waiting to be accepted. But they were asking the government to stop advancing legislation that treated them as less than fully Jewish, less than fully welcome in the only Jewish state. Restoring bipartisan support for Israel, he warned, would take an enormous effort—perhaps even an impossible one—if those laws continued to pass.
Notable Quotes
The current government is putting bipartisan support for Israel among politicians in the United States at risk. Restoring it will be an enormous task, perhaps even impossible.— Rabbi Rick Jacobs
We are the largest Zionist movement in North America. Our love for Israel is expressed in many ways. If the Israeli government does not see that, then it simply is not seeing correctly.— Rabbi Rick Jacobs
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
You said restoring bipartisan support might be impossible. Do you really believe that, or is that a warning meant to be heard?
It's both. I've watched the fractures widen in real time. Republicans who once saw Israel as a natural ally are asking whether total reliance on any single administration is wise. Democrats are still there, but the tensions are growing. When you add legislation that alienates millions of Jews who support you, you're making the task exponentially harder.
But the Western Wall bill—that's about religious authority, not about rejecting Reform Jews, isn't it?
That's how some frame it. But when you criminalize how someone prays at the holiest site in Judaism, you're not making a technical adjustment. You're saying their Judaism doesn't count. And when you change the Law of Return to exclude converts through non-Orthodox rabbis, you're telling committed Jews they can't come home. That's not a religious distinction. That's exclusion.
Young American Jews seem to be staying connected to Israel despite all this. Why?
Because they love the people and the idea of Israel, even when they're troubled by the government's choices. They understand Israelis are fighting, that the Air Force acted with skill against Iran. But they're also asking whether settler violence without adequate response aligns with the values Israel claims to represent. You can hold both things at once.
What worries you most right now?
The irreversibility. If young Jews become convinced that Israel doesn't want them, that it sees them as less legitimate, that connection doesn't snap back easily. And meanwhile, antisemitism is rising everywhere. We need Israel to be a refuge, not a place that turns away Jews because of how they practice their faith.
Is the Diaspora Affairs Ministry helping or hurting?
Minister Chikli has been a genuine partner. He understands our community and supports it. But one ministry can't overcome legislation from the Knesset. That's the real problem.