(June 2, 2023 / JNS) Hours before a group of Israeli and American Jews protested his appearance at a New Jersey synagogue, Knesset member Simcha Rothman of the Religious Zionism Party told JNS exclusively that a protest expected at the June 4 “Celebrate Israel Parade” in New York City would do a disservice to the protesters’ cause and to the larger Jewish Diaspora community.

Those who rallied against the Israeli government “breached many, many red lines. During their protests, they took the army into it. They took families that lost their dear ones in terror acts and in battle. I think they passed all the red lines that could be imagined,” he said.

“When people come to the parade—coalition and opposition Knesset members—I don’t think that’s a time to make our enemies happy,” added Rothman.

Those who protest events like the Israel parade generally affiliate with anti-Israel causes, such as the anti-Israel BDS movement, according to Rothman. He issued a lengthy statement on June 1 condemning those who planned to protest the parade for using diaspora Jews as a “political chip.” Instead, he called the annual celebration a symbol of unity that should remain above controversy.

Rothman doesn’t take issue with those protesting the governing coalition, of which he is a part, he told JNS. He has taken particular heat for his role as chairman of the Knesset constitution committee, which oversees judicial reform and of which Rothman is the main architect. 

Some claimed on Twitter that he was protested while sitting on a New York park bench, but Rothman downplayed the event, saying just one person came to talk to him. On May 28, police had to evacuate him following fierce protests during a speech at Tel Aviv University.

“There is a way to protest. I think that people have lost their moral compass though,” he said. “The Israel Day Parade is not about the Israeli government. You want to demonstrate near the Knesset? You want to demonstrate outside my house? It’s sometimes problematic, but it’s also OK.” 

Protesters have every right to speak their minds, he continued, but they are trying to shut down free speech when they disrupt panel discussions, as they did at the university last weekend.

“Trying to create a problem at the Israel Day Parade—an event that is uniting for all Jews and Zionists—that’s crossing a red line, and I don’t think that should be respected. Coalition and opposition together support the important connection with American Jewry,” Rothman said. “People who want to disrupt it cannot then call themselves leaders.”