J Street Is Not a “Pro-Israel” Organization
Someone at Israel Hayom Needs to Learn the Facts
Israel Hayom columnist Yoav Limor recently criticized Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, for referring to the J Street lobby as “a cancer within the Jewish community.” Limor wrote:
“One would expect Leiter to deal with criticism in a somewhat more intelligent and respectful manner. Yes, J Street can be irritating—but so what? Respond with arguments, not insults. Above all, Israel needs them as well in the complex struggle it is waging against the collapse of its standing in American public opinion.”
In other words, Limor presents J Street to the newspaper’s readers as a force that may be somewhat “annoying” in its “criticism,” but is fundamentally positive. More than that, he portrays it as an organization that Israel needs on its side in the battle to prevent the erosion of its image and support in the United States.
One can debate whether the word cancer was appropriate or whether the ambassador should have chosen a different term. That is not the point.
The point is the serious manipulation being carried out here by Limor and the editorial team of Israel Hayom. It is no coincidence that Limor neglected to mention what prompted Ambassador Leiter to describe J Street in those terms.
J Street is a lobby of anti-Zionist and anti-Israel Jews who have worked tirelessly to undermine Israel’s standing among the circles of influence around them—primarily the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. As part of that effort, they called for a weapons embargo on Israel while it was fighting for its survival on seven fronts against enemies committed to its destruction, pursuing the same old Islamist-Nazi dream of eliminating the Jewish state. It was this action that drew Leiter’s criticism: an organization that presents itself as caring about Israel’s welfare while actively working to weaken it.
J Street’s self-description as a “pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy” organization serves as little more than camouflage for its true character. Founded as a counterweight to the highly effective pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, J Street has consistently aligned itself—on virtually every major issue—with positions opposed to Israel’s interests. Consider just a few examples from recent years, in addition to its latest call for a U.S. arms embargo on Israel, and judge for yourself whether its actions are genuinely pro-Israel or fundamentally hostile.
Take Iran. As early as 2009, this supposedly “pro-Israel” lobby opposed sanctions designed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Later, it supported the Obama administration’s nuclear agreement with Iran, an agreement that paved the way for Iran to become a de facto threshold nuclear power. It lamented President Trump’s withdrawal from the deal and, more recently, publicly opposed military action against Iran.
What about Gaza? Although J Street once recognized Israel’s right to defend itself against rocket attacks from Gaza directed at Israeli civilians, its position changed during Operation Guardian of the Walls. It opposed Israel’s military response and urged the U.S. administration not to provide Israel with the munitions necessary to neutralize the sources of those attacks. During Operation Protective Edge, it declined to participate in pro-Israel solidarity rallies. Following Operation Cast Lead, it assisted Judge Richard Goldstone in advancing allegations of Israeli war crimes. Even after the Goldstone Report was widely discredited—and after Goldstone himself acknowledged that its conclusions were fundamentally flawed—J Street refused to support calls for the U.S. administration to repudiate the report. It also refused to condemn the Gaza flotilla led by the Mavi Marmara. Throughout the current Swords of Iron War, J Street has repeatedly issued statements opposing the continuation of Israel’s military campaign.
The organization also opposed efforts to expand the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism to include certain forms of anti-Zionism that function as antisemitism in disguise. In effect, it sought to shield anti-Zionism from being recognized as a form of antisemitism. In addition, politicians promoted by J Street have opposed U.S. assistance aimed at strengthening the Abraham Accords.
And finally, as noted above, the organization called for a “partial” arms embargo on Israel during the most difficult war in its history.
If this is the organization and these are its actions, is it truly an organization that “Israel needs” in its struggle against declining support in public opinion, as Limor claims? Or is it, in fact, an organization that bears significant responsibility for that very decline?
And does Israel Hayom present this organization to its readers in an honest and accurate manner?
No. It misleads its readers and adopts the same flawed and objectionable journalistic practices that have long characterized Haaretz on this issue.
What a shame.