J-Street not a “Pro-Israel” Organisation…writes Isi Leibler
At its fifth annual national conference last week, J Street advanced its objective of gaining recognition as a mainstream Jewish organization with the inclusion of a wide range of prominent American and Israeli political figures amongst its speakers.
Isi Leibler
These included Vice President Joe Biden, Special Envoy Martin Indyk, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and representatives from most Knesset parties. Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, in one of his last acts prior to retiring, conveyed greetings by video. Even prominent Likud MK, Tzachi Hanegbi and Shas MK, Yitzhak Vanin participated.
Vanin introduced a comic element when he boasted to participants that he was urging Shas rabbis to recognize non-orthodox streams of Judaism and cease protesting against gay pride parades.
Hanegbi also played up to the crowd, justifying his participation on the grounds that despite disagreeing with many of its views, J Street was a “pro-Israel” organization towards which he felt an obligation to engage in “dialogue”.
He endorsed a two state solution and opposed the Arab right of return, but astonished participants by stating that he favored handing over Jerusalem’s Arab neighborhoods to the Palestinian Authority stating , “we will not be sovereign in the places where our people were born, in the places where Jewish kings and prophets used to live centuries ago”. He also referred to the duplicitous Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as a “genuine peace partner” and was quoted by the JTA as describing Iran’s diplomatic overtures as “the fulfillment of our dreams”.
Of course Hanegbi is neither naïve nor a fool and would be aware that the issue relating to his participation is not about “dialogue” but over whether red lines should apply towards providing legitimacy to organizations systematically engaged in undermining Israel from within the Jewish mainstream. With J Street, the issue is not merely its views but its preposterous actions. Hanegbi must be conscious of how ridiculous it is to describe as “pro-Israel” an organization which actively lobbies the US government to undermine the policies of the democratically elected government of Israel.
The audience response to other speakers at the conference was quite revealing. Labor leader Shelli Yachimovitch received enthusiastic applause when she expressed support for gay rights but encountered a chilly silence when she stated that “we believe in a free and democratic Israel with a strong army and secure borders to defend not only our people but their views… the true Zionist dream”. Minister Tzipi Livni received a similarly cool response when she condemned “the process of delegitimization against Israel” and demonization of the IDF.
Consistent with J Street’s recent promotion of a Congressional petition urging Obama to accept Iranian President Rouhani’ s proposal regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions, applause was muted when Vice President Joe Biden spoke of sanctions against Iran.
Yet, attendees were unequivocal about their allegiances. They applauded Fatah’s spokesman Husam Zomlot’s call for Israel to give “formal recognition of the Nakba” and offered sustained and enthusiastic applause when he demanded the right of return of Arab refugees to their former homes in Israel.
J Street leaders castigated Prime Minister Netanyahu after his UNGA address for concentrating on Iran rather than the Israeli-Palestinian issue in his UN General Assembly speech.
Such displays provided further evidence that J Street’s claims that it is “pro-peace” and pro-Israel” are disingenuous, if not outright absurd. Virtually the entire Israeli political spectrum passionately yearns for peace.
During Operation Cast Lead, J Street described Israel’s action as an “escalation” that was “counterproductive” and “disproportionate”. It ascribed moral equivalency to Israel and Hamas, stating that it found difficulty in distinguishing “between who is right and who is wrong” and “picking a side”. One J Street leader described the operation as being an “unjust and even criminal act” and claimed that Gaza represented a “mythic threat to Israel”.
In 2011 J Street urged the White House not to veto a one-sided United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel. It called the behavior of IDF commandos on the Mavi Marmara Gaza flotilla ship “cruel brutality”. It encouraged the US administration to force Israel to freeze residential construction in the east Jerusalem Jewish suburbs. While the liberal media gushes over a Jewish organization which constantly condemns Israel and defines it as moderate, J Street remains a magnet to the anti-Zionist chic.
J Street’s approach is arrogant and paternalistic. Its leaders have the chutzpah to claim that they know better than Israelis what is good for Israel. Out of touch or indifferent to the existential threats Israel faces, ignorant of history and unwilling to grapple with the complexities of our situation, they compare us to drug addicted children who require “tough love” for our own welfare.
The tone is set by J Street’s leadership which manipulates history and reality with dangerous rhetoric. Founder and President, Jeremy Ben Ami, refuses to recognize Israel as a “Jewish state” referring to it as a “Jewish democratic home, in the state of Israel”. Co-founder Daniel Levy has described Israel’s creation as “an act that went wrong”. It is noteworthy in this respect that Ben Ami was also proven to be a serial liar when despite his repeated denials to the contrary, the anti-Israeli George Soros was exposed as one of his major contributors.
In contrast to AIPAC whose charter explicitly states that it supports the policies of the Israeli government holding office, J Street actively lobbies the US government to undermine policies that are enacted by Israel’s democratically elected government. It continuously fiercely disparages AIPAC and has gone to the extent of fanning antisemitism by warning that AIPAC’s “blind support” for Israel will give rise to hostile feelings that American Jews harbor dual national loyalties.
In presumably closing a blind eye to Tzachi Hanegbi’s participation in the J Street conference, Netanyahu has effectively provided credibility and given a green light to Jewish organizations to lobby their lawmakers to pressure the democratically elected government of Israel to change policies which it considers vital to its security.
In the past, Labor leaders, including Yitzhak Rabin, considered it unconscionable for Jews living outside Israel to publicly engage in issues impacting on Israeli security from which neither they nor their children would reap the life or death consequences.
That such an erosion of the Zionist ethos was sanctioned during the term of office of a government purporting to represent the national camp, reflects its disfunctionality and failure to maintain collective responsibility.
With the current unprecedented global escalation of anti-Israelism and antisemitism, we must divorce ourselves from the enemy within. There is plenty of room in the Jewish tent for legitimate dissent and freedom of expression. But “pro-Israel” Diaspora Jews, are morally barred from intruding and in particular from lobbying governments to pressure Israel to take actions which impinge on its national security.
Isi Leibler lives in Jerusalem. He is a former president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
JJ and Gil both have very good points. And while some would not agree with me, I see J-Street and others of its ilk, continuing the Bundist/Zionist battle. The Bund wanted to integrate Jews into European society and sought solidarity with its working class while opposing the Zionists who had given up on their neighbours and wanted to live as free and separate nation. The Bundist and Zionist positions were equally valid before the Shoah and before the establishment of Israel, the nation-state of the Jewish people. To now do anything to endanger the existence of half of the survivors of the Holocaust and the Arab depradations or to adopt the lies of the enemies of Jews is nothing short of antisemitism. No solidarity with “progressive” movements or super-patriotism to some nation of the diaspora makes such antisemitic activity any less abhorrent.
Let me open with two statements for the sake of good faith and honesty.
1) I am proud to call Isi Leibler a good friend of mine who I have great respect and much agreement with what he writes.
2) I disagree with the niavety and false hope and aspirations that J Street develops among its followers. They would get a lot more of respect (and even support) from me if they were to show an equal amount of constructive criticism towards the Palestinian camp as they offer to the Israeli side.
Having said that I totally diagree with Isi’s denial of J Streets credibility as a pro Israel action group.
I was delighted to see the line up of Israeli poiticians that attended the conference, and their willingness to engage in dialogue with a pro Israeli group.
Yes, I disagree with a lot of what J Street says but they are part of the camp and I want them inside and engaging.
J Street does not represent my views on the possible way of solving the Middle East impasse, however thier views represent those of a large percentage of Israeli society.
We have too often allowed oursleves to splinter into many, many small factions (in our Knesset we have so many political parties, we have two chief rabbis etc. )
Lets try to unite, and engage each other more. Can we afford the alternative?
Inevitable events, which shall unfold in accordance with the best, most adequate existential principles for the infinite security of the Jewish State, events guided by the solid determination of the Government of Israel, shall deem Jstreet redundant.
It is heartnening to observe far more relevant Israeli politicians, such as Yachimovitch and Livni staying the course in consolidating political unity where it counts, habaita, bAretz, at home in Israel.
Thus, this Jstreet hedonistic pantomime can only provide a welcoming occasion of satisfaction that Israel is in good hands, standing firm and solid on uncompromising Zionist principles, in spite of the hollow rattle staged in distant and irrelevant places.
Excellent article. There is another element which Mr. Leibler omitted even if I’m sure he’s aware of it, and that is the motivation behind J Streeters’ blind arrogance. They are only interested in feeling good about themselves. They’re not interested one bit about the very real life and death consequences the policies they advocate might have on Israelis. As long as they can pat themselves on the back for supporting the poor, oppressed Palestinians, they’re happy. Of course if Israel was weak enough to follow their recommendations, with the predictable result that a swarm of Palestinians would outnumber the Jews, what will J Street say then? Nothing more than “Oops…”? That alone is a good reason to ignore these clowns. And if you know anyone who, out of a misplaced devotion to the lofty concept of fairness, gives them any money, please let that anyone know that he or she is not helping Israel’s cause. On the contrary.
When are Jews in general and Israeli political leaders in particular, ever going to wake up?
If Israeli leaders had an ounce of Hasbara ability they should not only decline any invitation to speak at J-Street conferences but come out publicly to denounce this organisation for what it is, an anti-Israeli lobby group purporting to be pro-Israel. But as I’ve been saying for ages, Israeli politicians have not a clue in this area.
To me, J-Street is a symptom of a cancer that has infected a large contingent of those morons of the diaspora, American Jewry.