NIF's CEO, Daniel Sokatch
NIF's CEO, Daniel SokatchHadas Parush, Flash 90

A coalition of leftist American Jewish groups is sending a letter to the leaders of Israel’s political parties asking them to oppose Israeli "annexation" of the "West Bank" — even if President Donald Trump gives it a green light.

The letter, written by a coalition called the Progressive Israel Network, aims to tell Israel’s political leaders that approval from Trump does not mean widespread support for Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria from either American Jewry or supporters of Israel at large.

“Mistaking such a ‘green light’ from the president — for any type of consensus on the part of either US political party — would be a dangerous error for Israel,” the letter reads. “Simply put, the approach of this president does not represent the long-term interests and likely future policy of the United States.”

The Progressive Israel Network consists of 10 leftist Jewish groups, including the Israel lobby J Street, the "rabbinic human rights" group T’ruah and the New Israel Fund, which supports a range of "progressive" groups in Israel. Three leftist groups that are not part of the coalition — the Israel Policy Forum, the National Council of Jewish Women and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association — also signed onto the letter.

“Carrying out unilateral annexations in the West Bank would ultimately destroy Israeli democracy and lead the country down a disastrous path to permanent conflict,” J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami said in a statement. “It’s vital for Israeli leaders to recognize that whatever the dangerous and deluded policies of the Trump Administration, the vast majority of Americans and American Jews are strongly opposed to annexation and remain deeply committed to the achievement of a peaceful two-state solution.”

Netanyahu was unable to form a coalition government following September’s elections and a third election in Israel in less than a year could be looming.