Up to date Sept. 13 at 10:05 a.m.
A significant Jewish-led protest is deliberate for Monday within the Bay Space, as opponents of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will come out in droves to “meet him wherever that he will likely be,” one chief stated. Netanyahu plans to land within the San Francisco area within the morning for a daylong journey earlier than heading to New York Metropolis, in keeping with an itinerary his office shared with journalists. Netanyahu will land in San Jose, in keeping with a number of media experiences.
The insurance policies of the Netanyahu administration, significantly its therapy of Palestinians, are broadly unpopular amongst Bay Space Jews. Based on a 2022 survey facilitated by the Jewish Neighborhood Relations Council Bay Space, solely about one-third of respondents stated they’re “usually comfy with the Israeli authorities’s insurance policies associated to Palestinians.”
Netanyahu’s acceptance of far-right nationalist events into his governing coalition in late 2022 and his efforts this yr to weaken the judiciary have supercharged grassroots opposition regionally.
In a uncommon step, the S.F.-based Jewish Neighborhood Federation and Endowment Fund, which normally stays impartial on Israeli politics, issued a public assertion in February expressing “concern” concerning the route of the federal government, stating its assist for “robust liberal democracy” in Israel and directing philanthropy and neighborhood engagement accordingly. The assertion was collectively signed by JCRC Bay Space.
The protest is being organized by UnXeptable, an Israeli expat-led grassroots group that originally shaped within the Bay Space however has since expanded throughout the nation and to cities exterior the U.S.
UnXeptable’s mission is to “name on world Jewry to return collectively and protect the democratic id of Israel as the house of all Jewish folks,” in keeping with its web site. The group lately partnered with the nonprofit America-Israel Democracy Coalition, which has enabled it to simply accept tax-deductible donations.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu arrives in San Francisco on September 18th for someday (possibly much less),” a Fb occasion web page says. “FREE UP YOUR CALENDARS, all palms on deck!!! Lovers of a free and Jewish democratic State of Israel will likely be coming from throughout. Will probably be the most important demonstration we’ve ever had on the West Coast !!!”
Netanyahu’s actions have been “shameful for Israel and shameful for the expat neighborhood,” Offir Gutelzon, UnXeptable’s founder, instructed J.
Gutelzon stated {that a} WhatsApp group he notified concerning the protest has 3,000 members. He’s additionally reaching out to congregational rabbis throughout the Bay Space, hoping they are going to share details about the protest with their congregations as Rosh Hashanah approaches this weekend.
“The message we’re sending is identical one as Martin Luther King,” Gutelzon stated concerning the American civil rights chief. “Pray together with your toes.”
Netanyahu will meet with Silicon Valley leaders within the area of synthetic intelligence, in keeping with media experiences. The prime minister has excessive hopes for AI in Israel, tweeting in June that he would like to match his country’s success within the tech world and develop into a “powerhouse” for AI too.
According to reportsNetanyahu additionally plans to fulfill with Elon Musk, although the assembly has not been confirmed by the prime minister’s workplace.
The 2 males have spoken earlier than. Earlier this summer time they shared a telephone dialog; afterward Netanyahu praised Musk, tweeting his “genius & impact on humanity are formidable.”
The rumored assembly with Musk has drawn sharp criticism from members of the American Jewish neighborhood. Opponents of Musk, the unpredictable and headline-grabbing CEO of X (previously Twitter), Tesla and neurotechnology firm Neuralink, level to previous habits that has been perceived as amplifying antisemitic tropes or remaining detached to antisemitism.
RELATED: Anti-Israel graffiti scrawled on Cupertino bridge that hosted Israeli pro-democracy protest
Earlier this month, Musk threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation Leaguethe nation’s oldest nonprofit devoted to preventing antisemitism and different types of bigotry, claiming it’s “making an attempt to kill” his social media platform and had “nearly succeeded” in doing so.
The ADL has known as nationwide consideration to Musk weakening content-moderation on the platform, resulting in elevated hate speech. Advertisers have pulled their {dollars} in giant numbers since Musk purchased the corporate final yr.
Within the midst of that controversy, Musk popularized the hashtag #BanTheADL, a slogan that subsequently was championed by white supremacist and antisemitic teams, together with the infamous Goyim Protection Leaguewhose identify and emblem are a parody of the ADL’s.
Musk additionally drew criticism earlier this yr for saying that Holocaust survivor George Soros “hates humanity,” “desires to erode the material of civilization” and “jogs my memory of Magneto,” the Jewish supervillain from the X-Males franchise. Critics stated the statements echoed antisemitic tropes about nefarious Jewish world management.
Musk tweeted on Sept. 4 that whereas he’s “professional free speech” he’s “towards anti-Semitism of any sort.”
“Nobody ought to permit this assembly,” tweeted Amy SpitalnickCEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. It will “give cowl to Musk’s specific engagement in and embrace of antisemitism,” she wrote.
Nobody ought to permit this assembly to provide cowl to Musk’s specific engagement in and embrace of antisemitism, for therefore many causes. https://t.co/LhhlccUljf
— Amy Spitalnick (@amyspitalnick) September 10, 2023
The Israeli Consulate based mostly in San Francisco wouldn’t affirm Netanyahu’s itinerary, solely saying by way of a spokesperson that the prime minister will go to the realm. Two years in the past, Netanyahu was photographed carrying a masks whereas ready alongside a multitude of bags on the San Francisco Worldwide Airport.
The Israeli chief is visiting the U.S. for the primary time since returning to workplace in late December. After stopping within the Bay Space he’ll fly to New York, his itinerary states, the place he’ll attend the United Nations Normal Meeting and ship a speech.
Becoming a member of Israeli expats, scores of American-born Bay Space Jews have protested throughout the area in latest months, usually with the backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge. Rabbis and different Bay Space Jewish neighborhood leaders have been among the many pro-democracy protesters.
Jonathan Singer, senior rabbi at San Francisco’s largest synagogue, Reform Congregation Emanu-El, instructed J. that he had attended a earlier protest within the metropolis. However he stated he couldn’t share on the document whether or not he will likely be attending Monday.
“Our neighborhood feels very strongly that the route of a authorities which has extremist tendencies is a harmful authorities. And it wants to vary its route,” Singer stated, including that Israel will likely be on his thoughts this weekend throughout Rosh Hashanah.
“He’s acquired a variety of teshuvah to do proper now,” Singer stated of Netanyahu and repentance. “Perhaps that’s why he’s coming.”
