Shimon Peres
Shimon PeresIsrael News photo: file

President Shimon Peres is the spirit behind the creation of J-Street, the liberal US Jewish lobby which is seen by many observers – including official Israeli representatives – as anti-Israeli. David Bedein, a journalist who heads the Israel Resource Review, is in Washington, DC, to give congressmen the heads-up about the Peres/J-Street connection.

In an interview with Arutz Sheva, Bedein said that he and his team are in the US capital to talk to members of congress and expose the lies that J-Street has been spreading lately. “This organization is a kind of umbrella group of all the leftist NGOs that decided they would like to breathe life into the Oslo process. The Peres Center for Peace is behind this whole network. The Peres Center for Peace moderated most of the discussions in the recent J-Street convention and their aim is to get as many congressmen as possible to support the continuation of the Oslo process.”

Bedein said that he is encountering congressmen who have a “thirst” for reliable information about Israel and that in meetings with them, he has been trying to refute various theories that J-Street is promulgating. “They keep trying to peddle the illusion that the Fatah is still a partner for peace,” he explained. “Their vision is of a continuation of the Oslo process and the establishment of a Palestinian state regardless of whether or not there is peace.”

“We are here in Washington to brief congressmen about the reality on the ground,” Bedein said. “We show them videos and books by the Palestinian Authority that prove that Fatah is not a moderate element but a militant one, that is constantly inciting against Israel.”

No one is helping

The Israeli government and the nationalist camp are “jarringly quiet” about J-Street's activities, Bedein claims. “The government and the right-wing organizations, including the Yesha Council, refuse my requests that they come out here for informational activities. I do this at my own expense and they are happy to hear me, so it is not clear to me why the Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office and the right-wing organizations do not send a representative from Israel to expose the hoax. They do not understand the damage that this organization is causing Israel on a daily basis.”

Bedein voiced hope that the public would assist private groups like his own so that they could carry out the informational work that the larger groups and governmental agencies do not.