Jill Jacobs

Jill Jacobs is the executive director of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, which mobilizes a network of 2,000 rabbis and cantors to protect human rights in North America, Israel, and the Palestinian territories.

SMOKE RISES as Israeli forces demolish two Palestinian homes in Hebron, in late October 2026.

Abraham and Hebron’s lesson for Israel: A Jewish state cannot deny others’ rights - opinion

Thousands of years later, Hebron remains a place where Jews and Palestinians each understand themselves to have deep historical and religious roots.

NOVEMBER 3, 2026

NEW YORK NEWSPAPERS headline Zohran Mamdani’s victory the morning after Election Day this month. Establishing a special project targeting a Muslim mayor echoes the Islamophobic attacks against him, the writer charges.

Politicization of the ADL: How the antisemitism watchdog abdicated its responsibilities - opinion

Today’s ADL has abdicated this responsibility, and the Jewish community will suffer the consequences.

NOVEMBER 17, 2025

A screen shows the voting results during the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on ceasefire resolution in Gaza, in New York City, US, December 12, 2023

The pro-Israel case for a negotiated end to the war in Gaza - opinion

It may be hard for us to call for a negotiated end to the war, but doing so might well be the most pro-Israel and the most Jewish position that one can take.

DECEMBER 21, 2023

The General Assembly must discuss the West Bank

Months ago, T’ruah, the organization I run, approached JFNA staff to offer a day trip to the West Bank, to take place right before or after the GA. The answer was no.

OCTOBER 22, 2018

Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jewish Agency Director-General Alan Hoffman attend the Jewish Agency Assembly in Tel Aviv.

All Jews are responsible for one another

We might be tempted to focus all our resources on our own respective crises, but the obligation toward other Jews should inspire a cross-border effort to support one another.

NOVEMBER 30, 2017

‘A RECOGNITION of our shared struggle should also compel American Jewish leaders to demand accountability for attacks on progressive Israeli leaders just as vociferously as we defend our own dignity.’

Anti-BDS efforts will backfire

Hundreds of millions of dollars are being poured into efforts to defeat BDS. As long as our community continues to support military occupation and settlements, these efforts are doomed to fail.

JUNE 14, 2016

THIS AERIAL SHOT of the Har Bracha settlement in the West Bank, south of Nablus, in September shows homes in the early stages of construction.

Jewish leaders must listen as well as lead

Listening provides an important check on leaders who may lose sight of where the people are.

OCTOBER 10, 2013