Jewish philanthropists should prioritize supporting Jewish organizations to ensure a strong and empowered future for the Jewish people, says award-winning journalist, actor, filmmaker, and Jewish advocate Yuval David.
Speaking on the ILTV News Podcast, David urged Jewish donors to “make sure that you're supporting our people and the future of our people.”
Yuval David
(ILTV)
For the past more than 16 months, since the outbreak of war, David has been advocating for the Jewish people across international news platforms, political and organizational leadership, campuses, community groups, synagogues, and churches. He works with survivors of war and terrorism and uses social media to amplify his message. A sought-after speaker, he leads workshops at rallies, demonstrations, conferences, and high-level meetings worldwide.
David also serves as a council member for Israel’s President Herzog’s Voice of the People initiative and is a delegate to the World Zionist Congress on the Kol Israel slate.
David told ILTV that Jewish funding and education should be directed toward the “choir”—those already within the Jewish and pro-Israel ecosystem. While many advocates aim to spread their message to the masses, David believes “we have a very weak choir.”
“We see people talking about amplifying the echo chamber. Our echo chamber seems like a birthday balloon that somebody bought at a corner market four days ago and is now hovering close to the ground,” David said.
Instead of abandoning the effort, he argued for strengthening Jewish voices.
“We need to amplify the echo chamber so every Jew can do what you are doing with your really amazing way of being able to relay information and talk about almost any topic,” David said. “If we can amplify the echo chamber of Jews and allies, we'll be able to amplify the world.”
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David urged Jews to embrace optimistic advocacy, despite the challenges they face.
“We could easily be pessimistic and say, ‘You know what? People want to kill us. Let's forget about being Jewish. Let's forget about Israel, and let's just not move forward, or let's convert, or let's change ourselves.’ But we don’t do that. We fight for the future,” he said.
He likened this fight to planting trees for future generations: “We plant trees that the next generations will enjoy and that we won’t enjoy ourselves, because we understand that the future is going to be there.”
David encouraged Jews to be proud of their identity and not to fear calling themselves Jewish or even Zionist.
“I am a Zionist because Zionism is a liberal, progressive movement,” he stated. “Zionism is an inclusive movement. We have Jewish Zionists, Christian Zionists, Muslim Zionists. We have Israeli Zionists. We even have Palestinian Zionists… We also have German Zionists, American Zionists, and Mexican Zionists. We have LGBT Zionists. We have straight Zionists. We have religious ones.”
He emphasized that Zionism is a movement rooted in progress and that “Zionism defines our Jewishness.”