For MLK Day: Thoughts of Liberalism and Zionism

During one of our recent Pride and Progress workshops, a participant asked me a question that cuts right to the heart of our work:

“When you say ‘liberal,’ what do you actually mean?”

It’s a fair question. This word has been twisted, stretched, politically weaponized, and deliberately misinterpreted. In Israel and the U.S., “liberal” is often used either as a political insult, a tribal label, or a placeholder for “left-wing.” But that’s not what we mean - not even close.

Two Meanings of “Liberal”

When we talk about “liberal”, most people think of one of the following:

1. The political meaning: the familiar partisan standpoint, committed to socially, economically, and internationally progressive policies.

2. The philosophical meaning: the Lockean idea that every human being possesses inherent worth, natural rights, and moral dignity.

While not rejecting the first camp, LIBRAEL stands firmly in the second camp.

Because unlike political labels, philosophical liberalism isn’t fragile or contingent on the specific context, but rather is grounded in a clear, moral, self-evident truth: that all people are created equal.

John Locke. Liberalism is not contingent on the specific political context, but rather is grounded in a clear, moral, self-evident truth: that all people are created equal.

Liberalism as a Moral Compass: Israel, America, and Dr. King

Our ideologically guiding light is not only philosophical texts, but also the shared DNA of the American and Israeli democratic projects - both far from complete.

The American Declaration of Independence insists that all people are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” and the Israeli Declaration of Independence promises “full social and political equality” and “freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture.”

Both documents defend the same core idea: people have inherent, intrinsic value, independent of social definitions or constructs. This belief is a moral compass that helps us navigate in a far-from-perfect reality toward a better future.

This principle is echoed powerfully in the philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who taught that a just society must judge individuals “not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” King’s belief in the intrinsic value of every person is the beating heart of liberalism itself.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A just society must judge individuals “not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

Applying Liberalism to the Israeli-Palestinian Reality

But LIBRAEL is not a think tank or a philosophy club. We are an Israeli NGO seeking to bend the moral arc of the universe - and that means these principles cannot remain in the theoretical realm for us.

If you take people’s intrinsic value seriously - if you believe, as Dr. King believed, that every human life carries the same moral weight - you cannot approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict merely through geostrategic calculations and security concerns, legitimate as they are.

A liberal worldview of the conflict is quite simple: both the Jewish people and the Palestinian people deserve to live in freedom, dignity, security, and opportunity, enjoying self-determination and having a say in how they are governed. Denying the right of one people to any of these rights is to deny the basic human value of that people; thus, it is inherently illiberal.

Our Zionism - commitment to Israel’s existence as the secure, prosperous, democratic nation-state of the Jewish people - stems from our liberal approach, from the belief that Jews, like all people, should have a say in how they live and how they are governed. Liberal Zionism, as we define it, claims that Israel’s legitimacy is derived both from values - from the very same liberal principles - and from the millennia-long aspiration of the Jewish people for sovereignty.

Liberal Zionism is not naïve. It is not necessarily left-wing. It is the understanding that nation-states can and should adhere to the liberal compass, and the belief that Israel’s future depends on staying true to the principles derived from that compass - protecting human and minority rights, maintaining separation of powers, and keeping a robust checks-and-balances system.

The Israeli Declaration of Independence. Liberal Zionism understands that nation-states can and should adhere to the liberal compass, and the belief that Israel’s future depends on staying true to the principles derived from that compass.

So, When We Say “Liberal”...

We mean the liberalism of John Locke, of the founders of America and Israel, and of Dr. King - a liberalism grounded in promoting justice, protecting human rights, and pursuing peace.

We mean a vision of Israel that is secure because it is democratic, prosperous because it is diverse, and a safe haven for Jews because it defends the rights of every person under its authority.

If you've never encountered such definitions of liberal Zionism, or if you've never heard of a pro-Israel organization so deeply committed to liberal values, that's good. At LIBRAEL, we are not trying to blend in, we’re not hiding our values, and we’re not committed to old, out-of-touch, failing paradigms.

We believe that in the new world we live in - post-October 7, with rising antisemitism and a total failure to achieve stability and peace - a new paradigm is needed like a breath of fresh air.

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