I write to oppose the anti-Israel non-binding referendum on the Vergennes Town Meeting Day ballot. Israel is a vibrant democracy. Palestinian Israelis vote alongside Jewish Israelis in all elections. Arab countries of the Middle East and Africa are weak democracies at best. Unlike in most Arab countries, women vote in Israel. Arabs are proportionately represented in the Knesset (Israeli parliament) and head all their own municipalities, schools, and religious courts. The apartheid accusation against Israel is false and only serves to heighten the fear many of us are facing for ourselves and our children.

The ballot holds Israel to a double standard, demonizes Israel, and seeks to de-legitimize Israel as a country. The ballot proposal uses inflammatory language, is false factually and historically, and is deeply divisive in our Vermont community.

This initiative is irrelevant to the state of world affairs, yet the ballot item is hateful in its denunciation of Israel and causes harm to Jewish families in all of Addison County and Vermont. Israel is a vibrant democracy, not an apartheid state. Israel is engaged in self-defense, not genocide. Israel is a legitimate state created by the United Nations in 1947, not a colonial settler state and our one true ally in the Middle East.

Please let’s stay focused on matters pertaining to Vergennes. Getting involved with international issues is a waste of time and energy.

Please vote NO on this non-binding referendum.

Marv Greenberg

Middlebury