Bnei Avraham began in the early 2000s as a group of religious activists (including figures such as ProfessorHillel Cohen, Hagit Ofran, Professor Assaf Sharon, Yehuda Shaul, Professor Amos Goldberg and Mikhael Manekin) who worked with the Palestinian community in Tel Rumeida, Hebron. The group was injected with new energy in 2022 and renewed its activities, beginning to work 1-2 times a month with Palestinian partners to mitigate the damages done to them by settlers attacks by working together to restore and protect Palestinian’s property. Bnei Avraham has expanded to work with Palestinian farmers in different villages and towns throughout the West Bank, working hand-in-hand in activities such as olive picking, preparing soil for plowing, restoring fences, and even joining a nonviolent struggle to reclaim houses expropriated by settlers.
In addition to solidarity agricultural work, Bnei Avraham regularly holds protective presence Shabbats, most often in the southern Jordan Valley. There, Bnei Avraham activists spend a whole Shabbat with the community, sharing a Shabbat meal and talking and bonding with the locals. When settlers from a nearby outpost shepherd on Palestinian lands (in flagrant violation of Shabbat restrictions), Bnei Avraham activists stand with the Palestinians, working to keep the settlers from encroaching on their lands or entering their hands. See the activists in action here.
Bnei Avraham’s efforts to maintain connection with Palestinian communities extend beyond resistance to settler violence. At the start of the war, Bnei Avraham worked showed support by distributing Ramadan lights in Palestinian communities. We screened H2: Occupation Lab with our Palestinian partners in Hebron, discussing it together afterward – and also screened the Mundial in Hebron! In 2023, Bnei Avraham hosted a 200-person Freedom Seder-Iftar event, also in Hebron. As Bnei Avraham has expanded its relationships with communities in other areas of the West Bank, it’s worked to build bonds through cultural activities such as language study, a children’s circus, and cooking workshops.
Spreading information and encouraging opposition in Jewish communities is a core part of Bnei Avraham’s work. Bnei Avraham has done multiple postering campaigns in Hebron and in Jerusalem, advocating against the occupation of the West Bank and against the war in Gaza through the use of religious language. Additionally, in the period since October 7, Bnei Avraham has taken part in many antiwar protests and actions, including distributing ethics guides aimed at helping soldiers follow the path of the Jewish ethical tradition.
As the war waned, its goals became increasingly unclear, and its modes of operation grew morally troubling, Faithful Left activists took to the streets. Across the country, we helped organize, lead, and participate in protests calling for a ceasefire and a moral reassessment of national priorities. Our members served as organizers, speakers, and protest participants, bringing a clear religious voice that insisted on the sanctity of life, restraint in the use of force, and the urgent need to pursue a political horizon instead of endless conflict.
In parallel, we created spaces for deep learning and reflection. We held online conferences for our activists to study the war’s ethical, political, and social dimensions, and we dedicated our national gatherings to examining the devastating consequences of the past two years. Through study, dialogue, and public action, we sought to model what a faithful, moral, and democratic response to war can look like, grounded in Jewish tradition, committed to human dignity, and focused on the pursuit of peace and accountability.
The horrific events of October 7th, 2023 created an immense hostage crisis, with around 250 men, women, and children held in Hamas captivity. Shockingly, some of the loudest voices calling to continue the war even at the expense of the hostages emerged from religious circles.
From the very first day of the war, Faithful Left activists placed the ancient Jewish commandment of Pidyon Shvuyim—redeeming captives—at the very top of our moral and religious priorities. Through sustained public protest, op-eds, community mobilization, and educational events, we brought a clear and unwavering religious voice insisting that saving lives must come before all other considerations.
By putting forward a coherent, values-based argument rooted in Jewish tradition, Faithful Left played a significant role in shaping public discourse around the hostage issue, helping build the moral pressure that ultimately contributed to bringing the war to an end.
Since the beginning of the Netanyahu government’s move to weaken the legal system in Israel, we have seen this issue as superseding any other political tribalisms. In our view, the question was not secular versus religious, but rather what kind of Judaism stands behind a state that weakens the brakes on power, reduces protection for minorities, and blurs the boundaries of constitutional government.
From the first days of the protest, we were part of the struggle against the coup d’état, present in the streets and squares, and carrying a clear voice of faith against the concentration of power and against the use of religion to justify it. In demonstrations, Torah readings, and public discussions, we emphasized that defending equality before the law, the independence of the legal system, and human rights is not a renunciation of tradition, but a deep demand from within: a Judaism that limits government, protects those outside the circle of power, and sees the state as a civil framework for all and not a tool of one tribe at the expense of others.
