There are moments in history when silence is not prudence but abdication. There are moments when standing on the sidelines is not moderation but a moral failure. And there are moments when those who refuse to confront reality eventually discover that they, too, must live with its consequences. American Jewry stands at such a moment today.

For decades, an unwritten covenant existed between the State of Israel and the Jewish Diaspora. Israel asked Jews around the world to regard it as more than a sovereign state. It asked them to see it as their homeland, their collective project, and a central pillar of modern Jewish life. In return, Diaspora Jews offered political support, financial assistance, public advocacy, and an enduring sense of solidarity.

Again and again, Israeli leaders insisted that Israel belongs not only to its citizens but to the Jewish people as a whole. If that claim carries meaning, it must apply in moments of crisis no less than in moments of celebration.

It is therefore impossible to argue that the profound struggle currently unfolding in Israel is solely an internal Israeli matter. One cannot ask American Jews to mobilize when Israel faces external threats while demanding that they remain silent when the character of the Jewish state itself is at stake. And that is precisely what is at stake today.

The greatest threat facing Israel is not only external. It is not only Iran, Hamas, or Hezbollah. It is also a growing challenge from within: a political movement that increasingly views liberal democracy with suspicion, treats constitutional restraints as obstacles, dismisses universal principles of equality, and seeks to redefine Jewish........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)