Why the So-Called "Pro-Israel" J Street Avoids Credit for 54 Pro-Gaza
Congressmen
Going Left on J Street,
By Lenny Ben-David
National Review Online
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YjVkOTIyZTY3YzliMzk0YTVkNGIxMDJmMDIyNjVkYTI=

When 54 congressmen sent a letter to President Obama on January 21 asking
him to press Israel (and nominally Egypt) to lift the blockade on Gaza and
provide "immediate relief for the citizens of Gaza," I looked for J Street's
fingerprints. Since its inception two years ago, the well-heeled PAC has
rarely missed an opportunity to attack the policies of the Olmert and
Netanyahu governments: It criticized Israel's military operation in Gaza,
held out the option of negotiating with Hamas, called for freezing all
Israeli building in east Jerusalem as well as in the West Bank, refused to
support sanctions against Iran, and more. But, lo and behold, there was nary
a word about the Gaza relief letter on the J Street website or in the press
materials of the supposedly "pro-Israel, pro-peace" organization.

Others, however, did credit J Street with supporting the letter, and even
with sponsoring it. According to Ha'aretz, "In addition to members of
Congress, several leftist organizations also signed the letter, including
Americans for Peace Now and J Street."

Wrote Michael Rosenberg, one of Israel's harshest critics, "The [54 members
of Congress] deserve our thanks as does J Street and Americans for Peace Now
which pushed the letter."

And who appears first on the Minnesota Independent's list of the letter's
backers? "Among the groups supporting the letter: J Street, The Holy Land
Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF), The American Task Force on Palestine
(ATFP), The American Near East Refugee Association (ANERA), The Methodist
Church, The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), and Rabbis for
Human Rights."

With the exception of the rabbis, none of J Street's colleagues on the
letter are known for their fraternal feelings toward Israel.

Is that why J Street avoids claiming credit for the letter or publicizing
the fact that it trucks with some unkosher characters? Perhaps the
"pro-Israel" group wanted to avoid appearing "pro-Gaza" on the eve of
launching its national grassroots operation last week. Or perhaps J Street
got burned over the last year when it was revealed that a large portion of
its PAC funds (possibly close to 10 percent) were coming from individuals
never known for being "pro-Israel." Indeed, the most recent Federal Election
Commission records (for the last quarter of 2009) suggest that the J Street
PAC donors with ties to Saudi Arabia, the tarnished National Iranian
American Council and the Arab-American Institute didn't like the publicity
and are keeping their checkbooks closed.

What Commentary's Jennifer Rubin found interesting about the letter was "the
extent of the overlap between the pro-Gaza blockade lifters and the roster
of J Street-supported congressmen" recently published by J Street. "At least
we know the sort of congressmen that J Street supports and the sort that are
only too glad to accept J Street's largesse," Rubin states.

And now we also know that J Street continues to try to hide its fellow
travelers, just as it tried to hide the backgrounds of some of its PAC
contributors, its George Soros donations, and its decision-making process.

The "word on the street" now is that several members of Congress are
disassociating themselves from their letter, much the same way members
pulled out of J Street's national conference in October 2009.

- Lenny Ben-David served as a senior Israeli diplomat in Washington and
works today as a public-affairs consultant. He blogs at
www.lennybendavid.com.