Opinion: Montclair Rabbis defend Senator Andy Kim

OPINION

We were dismayed by a recent attack on Senator Andy Kim for two principled votes he took disapproving of certain offensive weapons sales to the Netanyahu government. We respect our colleagues who disagreed with his votes, but we must be clear: Senator Kim is a principled representative who has repeatedly stood up for Israel and with the Jewish people. Rhetoric that suggests otherwise is not only a mischaracterization of his record, but also harms our ability to work collectively to protect our vision of a secure and democratic Israel.

Senator Kim has worked and voted throughout his career to protect Israelis. He meets regularly with the family of New Jersey hostage Edan Alexander. He has shown deep dedication to releasing the hostages, protecting Israeli soldiers and caring for the needs of the families displaced by Hamas’ barbarism. Like us and like the vast majority of Jews around the world, he also wants to see the end of violence in Gaza that has caused such tragic destruction. Like Israelis pressuring their own government to prioritize hostage release, he fears that Netanyahu’s government has lost sight of this central imperative.

We’d like to clarify what was muddied in the noisy discourse around these votes: they had no impact on Israel’s immediate security, and the weapons had already been approved for transfer. Senator Kim’s votes were diplomatic and purely symbolic. Even if the resolutions had passed, no arms or munitions would have been withheld from Israel. Given these realities, Senator Kim took this opportunity to make a moral statement, demonstrate his unwavering commitment to the return of the hostages, including his own constituent, and stand up to Prime Minister Netanyahu.

At this moment, Israel and the Jewish people need to embrace our allies. Looking at the Senator’s record, it is clear that he is our ally. He has consistently voted to provide security assistance and emergency funding to Israel. In his final term in the House, he led a bipartisan letter supporting $500 million for US-Israel missile defense and an additional letter calling for replenishment of the Iron Dome anti-missile system in the wake of October 7. In his statement explaining his votes, Senator Kim reaffirmed his commitment to Israel’s security and to finding a diplomatic path forward that removes Hamas from Gaza.

Senator Kim, like the majority of American Jews, believes in the safety and humanity of both Israelis and Palestinians. We are heartened by our Senator’s willingness to use both his voice and his vote to ensure peace for both peoples, including his outspoken support both for a return to the ceasefire deal, which saw the sustained release of hostages back into the arms of their families, and for a desperately needed surge of aid to the innocent civilians in Gaza.

An op-ed published in December by Yehuda Cohen, father of Israeli hostage Nimrod Cohen, thanked Senators for similar votes on resolutions also symbolically disapproving of specific offensive arms to the Israeli government. “Do not use our family members’ names to beg your government to support a war the majority of Israelis do not want and do not think makes us safer,” he wrote. The boundaries of our own debates must at least be broad enough to include positions that heed the call of these Israelis.

As rabbis, we believe it is our responsibility to build a community wide enough to hold many perspectives and points of view. We feel compelled to speak out when we see people labeling all criticism of the Israeli government and its conduct during the war in Gaza as anti-Israel or even antisemitic (“an affront to our values . . . and our community”).

The Senator’s votes were an effort to rein in the Netanyahu regime that seems more committed to continuing a war with no achievable goal and no “day after” plan than to returning the hostages and engaging in the necessary political efforts to permanently end the conflict.

Leadership means making thoughtful, sometimes difficult decisions. Senator Kim’s votes, paired with his longstanding and ongoing support for Israel’s security and the Israeli people, send a signal of concern for Israel’s trajectory and long-term security while reinforcing the importance of shared humanity.

Elliott Tepperman is Senior Rabbi, and Ariann Weitzman is Rabbi Educator, at Bnai Keshet Reconstructionist Synagogue in Montclair, New Jersey.