Last Wednesday afternoon, hours before the U.S. Senate voted on Senator Sanders’ resolutions to block certain arms transfers to Israel, I received, separately, calls from Senators Warren and Markey. Each of them wanted to tell me their thinking on the matter and to tell me why they would be supporting Sanders’ resolutions; and to ask for my opinion.

At JCRC, we generally don’t lobby on federal issues — we have many member organizations that already do (and they are often on different sides of the same issues). That being said, we will always see part of our work as conveying the mood of our community to the Congressional delegation as well as to provide advice on how to navigate it, including the ways in which we contain multitudes.

I talked with the Senators about the mood of our community, as I often do. And I was clear with both that ‘If I were in their shoes,’ I would absolutely be voting the other way — to support President Biden on continuing these transfers — and I explained why.

In the days since then, we at JCRC have been inviting conversation and input from our Council (the representatives of our forty member organizations and the community at large) about the votes of our senators and the way forward.

While we’ve heard from some of our leaders expressing support for this vote, the overwhelming message from our members has been one of disappointment, anger, and dismay with the senators.  

Just as we appreciate and lift up the dismay that so many in our community feel about the impact of the war on civilians in Gaza, and just as so many of us share a very real concern about how Israel’s current government has prosecuted the war (that, for some, leads to the desire to ‘send a message to Netanyahu’), still, most of our community is, rightly — in my view — deeply concerned about the message this vote sent: That at a time when American resolve to stand by friends in distress is in question (such as concern for Ukraine’s ability to continue defending itself come January), this vote raises serious questions about the commitment of a significant number of influential Democrats to Israel’s security; that at a time when Israel is continuing to fight a multi-front war with Iran and its proxies, this vote will embolden those who seek the elimination of Israel; that at a time when we are witnessing terrible violence targeting Jewish communities, including but hardly limited to the recent pogrom in Amsterdam, this vote will provide cover for additional harassment and targeting of Jews here at home.

And this all comes as the result of a vote that Senator Sanders pushed for entirely performative and symbolic effect; a vote that had no chance of succeeding, would not have impacted Biden administration policy regardless, and would most certainly have been rolled back by the incoming Senate majority and administration.

Earlier this month, following the election, we at JCRC talked about how deeply divided our nation is, and about the need to build a shared civic project. We talked about our responsibility to our community as a whole and our commitment to work to reduce polarization. I stand by that, and I always will. I believe that the work ahead must be focused on rebuilding a strong center in our political ecosystem. It is not good for our nation when our two parties are each competing for a small number of ‘swing voters,’ rather than striving to earn the votes of most (if not all) Americans. It is not good for our nation when the vast majority of people can only envision one party as a personally viable option for themselves. A viable democracy needs two healthy parties competing to govern on behalf of all of us. A healthy political ecosystem needs two reasonably viable parties to consider when we cast our votes.

Massachusetts may be a very blue state, but we ought to contribute to rebuilding a healthier national discourse. We saw hints of the potential here for centrist politics, in 2018, when vast numbers of our neighbors split their tickets between Senator Warren and Governor Baker; and again just a few weeks ago when some 100,000 of our neighbors here again split their tickets, voting for Vice President Harris and for a Republican for U.S. Senate. It suggests, to me, that our leaders in Massachusetts have the space — and should seize the opportunity — to model a politics that is both Liberal, and Majoritarian; one that would speak to the whole nation. After this past week, I worry about the road ahead, and that for some, the path of least resistance moves both parties farther from the center.

As always, I welcome your thoughts about how we at JCRC should lead going forward.

Jeremy Burton
Chief Executive Officer, JCRC of Greater Boston