Saturday, Israeli Knesset member Yair Lapid addressed 700 people at the Park Avenue Synagogue at the end of Shabbat services. During his speech, Yair Lapid addressed the need both for Jewish unity and Jewish pluralism as well as the rising threat of the BDS movement.

Lapid addressed the rising threat of the BDS movement and said, “I am also here to talk about the BDS movement which has to be confronted, with all our force, both in Europe and here in the U.S. The situation is getting worse. The tide is turning and either we turn it back now or it will sweep over us. We are all aware of the situation on campuses but the Palestinians are engaged in a concerted and extremely well-funded effort to take their campaign to the next level. At FIFA a disaster was averted at the last moment, in Europe we have already lost much of the progressive center and the CEO of one of the world’s largest communications firms has publicly said he wants to cut business ties with Israel. This is not about policies, or about the settlements, or about the peace process, this is classic anti-Semitism in a modern disguise.”

“In order to fight it, we need to move from defense to offense and remind the world that behind these movements are the people responsible for 9/11, for terror attacks in Madrid and London and for the 250,000 people killed in Syria. In order to make that case we need our American friends. We need the Jewish community. We need you. We are ready to provide you with whatever support you need but in this battle you are our foot soldiers on the front lines. We can disagree on some aspects of government policy but when faced with an external enemy, we unite. Americans say that politics stops at the water’s edge – this is our water’s edge. The way to defeat BDS is for us to stand together, and to stand tall. ”

Addressing relations between Israel and the diaspora, MK Lapid said, “We also have to work completely differently – and much more effectively – on the relationship between Israel and the diaspora. Your children come to Israel in huge numbers through Birthright but that’s not enough. We need to create a relationship that goes both ways, in which you feel that you are listened to and even more importantly that your decisions regarding Judaism are respected. Jewish pluralism – Conservative and Reform – cannot be limited to the United States or Europe. Israel cannot continue to be the only country in the western world without freedom of religion for Jews.”