November 13, 2018
Dear Jeremy and the Board,
We write to you as members of current and former boards of J Street U. Those of us who are alumni look
back on our years in J Street U with fondness and gratitude for its investment in us as leaders. As
students, we served on the national board because we care deeply about the organization and its mission.
We were compelled by J Street’s bold vision of democracy and justice for Israelis and Palestinians that
was at the time unprecedented in mainstream politics. We represented thousands of students who looked
to the organization to put their values into action in the world.
The political circumstances, however, have unquestionably changed. We are all well aware of the ongoing
risks to the viability of a two-state solution, the dangers of the growing power of the right wing in both
Israel and the United States, and the alarming anti-democratic trends seen in both countries. Under these
circumstances, we and our former constituencies, many of whom are and will continue to be working in
the political or Jewish communal spheres, want to see bold action from J Street that responds
appropriately to this political moment. In its absence, some of us -- and many of the students we
represented -- have been turning away from the issue or pursuing other avenues for our advocacy.
We believe that the way forward for this issue and for J Street is to call for a sharper posture in American
politics toward Israel’s policies of occupation by imposing actual, tangible costs for those policies. Only
when confronted with possible cuts of aid or diplomatic support will the Israeli far-right leadership accept
the end of occupation, as recent events show.
Just last month, we watched as Khan al Ahmar moved closer to destruction despite the condemnation of
American political leaders, including opposition to demolitions from more than eighty Democrats in the
House and Senate. But in the end, Israel’s Attorney General only convinced Prime Minister Netanyahu of
the potential risks of the demolition after the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor suggested that it
would constitute a “war crime.” We know moving forward that the only way to keep the Israeli right wing
in check is if other countries step up to impose tangible consequences, and not just write harsh letters.
We feel that J Street is the only organization in the United States that has the political power to propose
such an agenda. We propose that J Street develop a strategy that moves the organization toward an agenda
of selective aid reduction -- i.e. every shekel the Israeli government spends on settlements and home
demolitions results in a proportional reduction of American military aid. Though such a proposition is far
bolder than anything previously put forth by an organization as influential and effective as J Street, it
represents the only possible strategy left. The radical right wing in control of the Israeli government will
not otherwise yield.
Though such a declaration would separate J Street even further from right-wing influences in Washington
and the wider Jewish world, we feel the organization must build the circumstances to take this step. In the
past we may have feared that such a move would have compromised a base of support among key
backers. However, recently documented shifts in the base of the Democratic Party and the successful

 campaigns of Rashida Tlaib and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, candidates to J Street’s left who are widely
supported by young people in particular, demonstrate that there could be widespread support amongst the
democratic base for a strategic yet sharper-edged posture toward Israel’s occupation -- and that J Street
must activate this base, at least partially, in order to be in tune with the politics of our generation. Further,
recent Israeli actions such as the Nation-State Law are generating more criticism from the mainstream
Jewish community than ever before. These actions are creating feelings of despair in many American
Jews, potentially leaving them receptive to a way to push back on Israel’s march farther and farther to the
right. We are thus advocating for these changes because we think that in this moment they constitute both
good policy and, increasingly, smart politics.
We propose these changes because we believe that they meet the challenges of this moment. Without such
a step, even with J Street’s success in electing a Democratic congress this year, a two state solution and an
end to the occupation will remain as unattainable as ever. And without retaining a base of young
Americans by rising to the demands of the moment, we fear J Street will not be able to retain its relevance
into the next generation.
Signed,
Current and former members of the J Street U National Student Board: