Criticism of the legacy Jewish establishment for its weak response to the current surge in antisemitism is growing. What has been simmering as private frustration has now bloomed into a public debate.
Meanwhile, a political storm is brewing on the horizon—and the Jewish and pro-Israel communities are totally unprepared.
Antisemitic harassment and violence have reached what even the ADL calls a “generational high,” with 2024 incidents nearly nine times the level of a decade ago. Yet the Jewish legacy establishment still answers most crises with webinars, PowerPoint presentations and VIP receptions.
Threats without tactics
For the past five years, I have led ICAN, the Israeli-American Civic Action Network. Before that, I spent nearly a decade as the political officer at Israel’s Consulate General in Los Angeles. Those positions put me at the intersection of government and policy on one side and the internal decision-making of major Jewish organizations on the other.
I have been inside campaign war rooms, policy negotiations and federation boardrooms, seeing firsthand which tactics move officials and how risk-averse, experience-deficient bureaucracy too often derails serious action.
The threats facing American Jewish communities are no longer distant or theoretical. Two Israeli embassy staffers were brutally murdered in Washington, marchers were firebombed in Boulder and the FBI recently released a warning that the threat level at Jewish institutions nationwide has dangerously increased.
Each incident is followed by promises of increased security funding, legislation, and solidarity, yet when these proposals reach city councils and state legislatures, they stall.
The Jewish legacy establishment, funded and entrusted with billions of donor dollars, responds predictably: strongly worded statements, interfaith dialogues, and delegations abroad. But, where it counts most—in state and local politics and policy—they remain largely ineffective. Here’s why:
1. Structural flaws: The Jewish and Israel-related advocacy landscape is dominated by tax-deductible 501(c)(3) charities that are restricted to engaging in issue education. In contrast, the hard-hitting political 501(c)(4) and PAC infrastructure that moves legislation and votes is almost nonexistent. At the state and local levels, organized pro-Israel political activity is almost absent or represented by progressive-oriented Legacy organizations, allowing hostile activists to fill the vacuum.
2. Market manipulations: Billions languish in Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs), giving contributors their maximum tax break while their dollars sit on autopilot. This “blind” money starves frontline advocacy. At the same time, extra-savvy nonprofits pad their budgets with government grants that demand little oversight or community input, while too many executives feed donors a steady diet of half-truths to keep them content and complacent. The current class of Jewish communal professionals is dedicated to defending the status quo along with their six-figure paychecks.
3. Competency gap: Most Jewish nonprofit staff are skilled fundraisers or program managers, occasionally lawyers, but few possess real experience in campaigns, legislative strategy, or government operations. Most so-called “advocacy” groups are staffed today by inexperienced professionals whose greatest skill is sounding authoritative while saying nothing. Lacking practical skills, even well-funded initiatives fail to convert plans into policy.
The consequences are clear. In California, a recent ethnic studies expansion bill (AB 1468) would have funneled millions into curricula promoting anti-Israel narratives under the facade of fighting hate. Sixty-five legacy Jewish organizations endorsed this dangerous legislation, mistakenly believing vague assurances from politically driven legislators would prevent antisemitism.
Our group stood firmly opposed. ICAN’s legislative analysis demonstrated the dangerous implications of supporting AB 1468. We mobilized tens of thousands of constituent messages and provided legislators with clear, actionable, and constructive alternatives. The bill was withdrawn and replaced by antisemitism-focused legislation—a concrete victory achieved through disciplined political engagement.
In another state, when new antisemitism-focused legislation was introduced, several legacy Jewish groups prioritized receiving credit over the policy outcome. Misunderstanding the legislative process, they attempted to kill the bill, a short-sighted move that would have set back meaningful antisemitism protections in that state for years. Rapid 501(c)(4)-backed organizing and decisive action by ICAN prevented this self-inflicted setback, ensuring bipartisan passage of critical protections.
In Massachusetts, a senior state senator conceded that she had never considered the Israeli-Americans in her district to be constituents. When the legislature later created an antisemitism commission, legacy organizations quickly claimed the available seats, and ICAN had to advocate to have the Israeli-American community acknowledged, let alone participate.
Nowhere is the policy-politics gap more evident than in K-12 education. Activist teachers and outside consultants quietly revise lesson plans while like-minded political candidates capture low-turnout school board elections—contests most Jewish institutions ignore until the damage is done.
By the time openly antisemitic school board members are sworn in, Jewish legacy leaders scramble to arrange “relationship-building” trips to Israel, hoping a guided tour will soften hostility.
Meanwhile, the adopted curricula shape our children’s worldview and have a lasting impact on families and communities for years. At ICAN, we treat classrooms as political ground zero: we monitor board races, expose biased materials, and help parents build voting blocs that can defeat hostile candidates before they ever dictate policy.
This strategy enabled us to defeat radical 2024 school board candidate Kahllid Al-Alim in Los Angeles.
What needs to happen
1. Commit serious resources to civics and advocacy: 501(c)(3) charities should allocate real budget, not just talking-point dollars, to nonpartisan civic education and advocacy training so parents, students, and grassroots leaders know how to work a bill, visit a district office, and talk to the media.
2. Build a full 501(c)(4) and PAC ecosystem: American Jewish, Israeli-American, Persian Jewish, and Russian-speaking Jewish communities need political vehicles at every level of government. Some donor capital must shift away from passive C3 giving and transactional business donations at the local level toward sustained advocacy investments that can endorse, bundle and primary when necessary.
3. Hire and develop political professionals: Fundraisers and program managers cannot substitute for policy analysts, campaign strategists, and get-out-the-vote experts. Organizations should recruit staff who can draft legislation, run field operations, and negotiate power and win, not just organize another gala.
4. Lean into Israel, not away: Today, there is a dangerous trend among the Jewish legacy establishment organizations to lean away from Israel rather than lean into it. To treat Israel as a problem rather than as a solution. If establishment leaders act this way, it permits elected leaders to act and vote the same way. The State of Israel, Israeli visitors and Israeli-Americans living in the United States have much to offer our country and our communities.
Storm on the horizon
Across the country, hundreds of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)–aligned progressives now sit on school boards, city councils, and in state legislatures. Their long game is explicit: pass local resolutions, shape curricula, and climb the ladder to Congress.
Since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, DSA-aligned progressives and their allies have leveraged their local offices to pass hundreds of one-sided cease-fire resolutions and Israel-divestment proposals. Each vote frames Israel as a pariah and excuses antisemitic activism while padding résumés for the next rung up the ladder. Today’s hundreds of officials will soon become thousands of state and local politicians primed to take congressional seats.
The current debate over Israel’s operations in Gaza shows how quickly the narrative can shift. Progressive-extremist members dominate airtime, framing Israel’s self-defense as aggression and condemning President Trump’s decisive action against Iran. If even a fraction of the DSA bench graduates to Washington, the next Congress could normalize anti-Israel voting blocs at historic levels.
Within two election cycles, today’s local officials will be tomorrow’s committee chairs. If the Jewish community fails to build an effective 501(c)(4)/PAC network and train a ground army of advocates now, we will face not isolated hostile voices but a legislated anti-Israel agenda—from kindergarten textbooks to federal foreign-aid votes.
The choice is clear: Invest in power today or watch policy turn against us tomorrow—district by district, seat by seat.