From Ambassador to Agitator: The Collapse of Israeli Diplomacy in Washington

I understand why our ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, does not like J Street. I understand why it is difficult for him to see how, while AIPAC – which has proven countless times that there is no abomination that comes from the Netanyahu government that it will not support – has become a toxic brand in the Democratic Party and is on its way to becoming one in the Republican Party too, J Street has become the mainstream among Jewish Americans and Democrats.

I understand that it is difficult for Leiter, who in his youth spent time in the Kahanist orbit in the US and Israel and who does not hide his desire to annex the West Bank, to see J Street establishing itself in the heart of the Democratic Party and the Jewish community.

Therefore, his statement that “J Street is a cancer within the Jewish community” does not anger me, both as a member of the organization and as someone who has recovered from cancer. There is no reason to be angry when the words come from a frustrated fundamentalist who repeatedly proves how little he understands his role as Israel’s ambassador to the US. This time, it was J Street that received Leiter’s verbal gems. A year ago, the ambassador accused Netanyahu’s opponents in Israel of “spreading blood libels against Netanyahu.” This is rhetoric from an ambassador in Washington who believes his true role is to serve as the ambassador in Mar-a-Lago for the far-right and Netanyahu.

Leiter watches with despair as the far-right loses influence in the US; the blank check for the extreme policies of Netanyahu’s government is no longer taken for granted. But in his great anger, Leiter got confused and attacked J Street, precisely on the one issue where we actually agree with Netanyahu: reducing Israel’s reliance on American subsidies for arms purchases.

Leiter may have missed Netanyahu’s interview about a week ago on CBS’s 60 Minutes. “I want to reduce American military aid to zero, and I don’t want to wait for it … let’s start now,” Netanyahu told the interviewer, echoing almost exactly J Street’s position – that Israel, as a strong and wealthy ally of the United States, should transition to a partnership not based on subsidizing military aid with American taxpayer money but rather on strategic cooperation and the purchase of weapons and defense systems, just like other strong allies of the US.

Back in January, Netanyahu said that he intends to end dependence on American security assistance within a decade, a statement that then received the support of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, whom Leiter surely considers a “friend of Israel.” Graham even added that there is no need to wait 10 years. Maybe Leiter thinks that just as J Street is a cancer in the Jewish community, Netanyahu is a cancer in the state of Israel, and Graham is a cancer in Congress?

Yechiel Leiter represents everything that is wrong with Israeli diplomacy under Netanyahu. A product of the far-right, Leiter does not truly represent his country but instead an extremist view. An ambassador who, instead of working together with all the pro-Israel elements in the US, including those who oppose the government’s policy, curses and insults. And does so without realizing that he is also insulting his boss  – who seems to understand, like we do at J Street, that forgoing the subsidization of US security assistance is an Israeli interest aimed at maintaining sustainable bilateral relations.

Under Netanyahu, Israel’s standing in the US is destitute and only getting poorer. In the US, the images of destruction in Gaza and Lebanon that receive applause from too many in Israel are viewed differently. The unchecked violence of Israeli settlers, de facto annexation by the Israeli government, and racist statements from coalition ministers and Knesset members, all together, have led us to the worst place we have ever been.

Israel’s defense budget in 2026 is approaching 150 billion shekels, and US military aid, which currently stands at about 3 billion dollars per year, constitutes a relatively small part of it. Restoring Israel’s standing in the US will begin with a firm Israeli declaration that we no longer need or want American taxpayers’ money. Israel must then proceed with a fundamental change in policy –that the current government has proven incapable of making – which primarily involves promoting diplomatic solutions and not just wars.

To Leiter, I have one piece of advice: it is not too late to register for the Likud primaries. If you are a far-right representative, do it in the Knesset, not as an ambassador.