J Street’s Playbook: Embrace Our Loudest Opponents

In the aftermath of Zohran Mamdani’s election, many in our community are asking: Who is standing with us?

The concerns about Mamdani’s record are not speculative. He has promoted a boycott, divestment, and sanctions policy against Israel, equated Zionism with apartheid, and refused to repudiate rhetoric like “globalize the intifada,” knowing full well that countless Jews view those positions as personal attacks.

It was disheartening — and frankly bewildering — to watch J Street’s response. Instead of acknowledging why so many Jews feel targeted, J Street blamed Jewish organizations for “fearmongering” and demanded that we pursue “constructive partnership” with him.

Given that J Street claims to be “pro-Israel” and speak for the Jewish community, it may seem like a stunning response. But not to those of us who have been paying attention. J Street’s Hug-Mamdani approach is part of an unmistakable pattern: The louder the animus toward Israel and the Jewish community, the warmer the J Street embrace.

The J Street-Mamdani connection is so tight that Mamdani recently hired the group’s former PAC manager to serve as his office’s Jewish outreach director.

Soon after Mamdani, it was Ben Rhodes. The former White House official and loud Israel critic published a 2,000-word screed peddling dangerous lies and calling on Democrats to end support for Israel. Two days after the piece went to print, J Street platformed Rhodes and eagerly promoted his ideas on a podcast with the group’s president.

The next day, J Street-endorsed Senator Chris Van Hollen launched an offensive ad hominem attack on one of the most prominent members of Maryland’s Jewish community – accusing JCRC CEO Ron Halber of being an “apologist for the Netanyahu government.” This is the same Senator who, after 80 Maryland rabbis publicly urged him to stop his damaging anti-Israel rhetoric, received glowing praise from J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami as “a true friend of Israel and Maryland’s Jewish community.”

We are living in a dangerous moment. Jewish parents are worried. College students are being targeted. Synagogues are beefing up security. This is not abstract. It is happening now.

In such a moment, the Jewish community needs partners who take our concerns seriously — not who minimize them, not who shame us for raising them, and not who dismiss our fears as political maneuvering.

There is room, always, for principled debate about Israeli policy. But there must also be a boundary: you cannot claim to be “pro-Israel” while consistently elevating or excusing those who seek to delegitimize Israel’s existence or who use rhetoric that endangers Jews.

Our community is a target, and we need allies in our corner, not groups like J Street who claim to speak for us while they pour fuel on the fire.