"Pro-Israel" J Street To Congress On Letter Supporting Israel: Hey, Not So Loud!

From Politico

In the most open conflict in months between the left-leaning Israel group J Street and the traditional pro-Israel powerhouse AIPAC, the liberal group is asking members of Congress not to sign a letter backed by AIPAC that supports the Israeli side of the Gaza flotilla incident.

J Street president Jeremy Ben-Ami writes that the AIPAC letter "fail[s] to address the impact of the present closure of Gaza on the civilian population, the deep American interest in resolving this conflict diplomatically, or the urgency of moving forward with diplomacy before it is too late."

The key point about Ben-Ami's letter to Congress:

His letter is silent on the actual substance of AIPAC's defense of Israel's actions.

The Congressional letter is intended to recognize the evidence that has shown that the world condemnation of Israel is unfounded--and J Street finds that threatening.


At a time when Israel is in a battle to get the facts out and avoid the kind of world condemnation that it got as a result of Operation Cast Lead, Ben-Ami takes the Obama-esque approach of being even-handed and not taking sides. That approach has caused observers to note that Obama has done this at the expense of allies--the same can be said of J Street and Ben-Ami

If J Street thinks that Israel was wrong in regards the Mavi Marmara--let it say so. Otherwise, let it say clearly that the evidence that video and other evidence that Israel has provided back up its claim that the IDF was the victim by a planned ambush organized by people with ties to terrorism.

Instead, J Street impugns the motives the motives of the authors of the letter:

J Street – the pro-Israel, pro-peace lobby – is not supporting sign-on letters to the President now circulating in the United States House of Representatives regarding the Gaza flotilla. As is far too often the case, these letters have been drafted primarily for domestic political consumption rather than to advance the U.S. interest in peace and security in the Middle East.

Openly supporting Israel is a threat to peace:

The window of opportunity for a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is closing rapidly, and statements like those now circulating in Congress only push the window down harder.

If J Street thinks this is an opportunity to press for the creation of a second Palestinian state--fine. But then allow Israel to do so from a position of strength. Instead, Ben-Ami wants the negative PR and bias against Israel stand. He sees no need for Israel's strongest ally to come out on Israel's side.

He instead wants Congress to address the general issue of the blockade itself--again closing his letter by impugning the motives of the Congressional letter and advising Congress "to refrain from signing those designed simply to satisfy the perceived imperatives of domestic politics.

One can only wonder where J Street's own imperatives come from.

Technorati Tag: J Street and Jeremy Ben-Ami.