American Jewish lobbies spar: AIPAC claims J Street 'masquerades' as a supporter of Israel

The pro-Israel AIPAC lobby last week sent a letter to its donors, declaring J Street, the left-wing lobby group, to be "one of the gravest threats to American support for Israel’s security." The letter also claimed that J Street "masquerades as a supporter of Israel" but in fact supports Israel's most extreme critics.

"It’s hard to believe, but it’s true," the letter read. "Today, one of the gravest threats to American support for Israel’s security comes from an organization that outrageously calls itself pro-Israel."

"This 'pro-Israel' group aligns with the anti-Israel fringe and supporters of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign. They endorse and fund candidates who vote against Iron Dome—the system that helps Israel defend its citizens from terrorist rockets. They oppose policies of the Israeli government no matter who is prime minister or whether Israel’s government is center-left, centrist, or conservative.

"By now, you may have figured out I’m talking about J Street, the organization which masquerades as a supporter of Israel while endorsing its most virulent critics and denouncing bipartisan backers of the U.S.-Israel friendship."

The letter then brought a list of incidents, asking readers to decide for themselves whether J Street is pro-Israel or not.

"J Street’s chief lobbyist questioned emergency American aid to replenish the purely defensive Iron Dome missile defense system, after thousands of terrorist rocket attacks against civilian populations in Israel," the AIPAC letter noted, adding that, "When President Biden visited Israel and reaffirmed both America’s special relationship with Israel and 'the unshakeable U.S. commitment to Israel’s security,' J Street criticized his trip."

"In the last election, J Street endorsed several anti-Israel members and candidates for Congress. One wrote a bill that said Jerusalem should be divided and the Western Wall is Palestinian territory. Others cosponsored a resolution calling Israel’s founding a 'catastrophe.' Many even opposed celebrating 75 years of the U.S.-Israel relationship.

"J Street’s efforts fracture the bipartisan consensus for Israel and give its radical opponents in Congress a veneer of legitimacy from an allegedly 'pro-Israel' group. This is a clear and present threat to American support for the Jewish state."

Jeremy Ben-Ami, J Street's President, responded with a list of tweets to AIPAC's letter.

"Last week AIPAC circulated a mail piece dedicated to one of the 'gravest threats' they’re confronting. Not Netanyahu’s judicial coup. Not escalating terror & violence. Not even Iran’s nuclear program. The grave threat? Us. J Street. How did we get here?" he tweeted.

"Sadly, over time, AIPAC has embraced an increasingly distorted vision of what it means to be “pro-Israel” – one more aligned with the goals of the Netanyahu government and the American right than with the Jewish, democratic values of most Jewish Americans (+ Israelis themselves).

"Yet AIPAC says it's 'outrageous' and 'false' for folks like me to consider ourselves 'pro-Israel.' There's no room for genuine concern over eroding democracy, endless settlements, racist rhetoric and the growing toll of maintaining a permanent, unjust, undemocratic occupation.

"Their right-wing version of 'pro-Israel' has nothing constructive to say about the genuine concerns of so many pro-Israel Americans at this moment. Nothing to say about the mass movement of Israelis warning that democracy is slipping from their grasp, desperate for US support.

"So all AIPAC has left is scaremongering, division and lies. They sent a full four pages of it about us. It’s a strategy ripped from the playbook of the hard right, Fox News and Trump World (just ask the former digital director of Trump’s RNC, who AIPAC hired)

"For the record: J Street supports security assistance to Israel, backs Iron Dome, opposes the Global BDS Movement and welcomes Israel’s growing acceptance in the region.

"We also think the US government must do more to support Israel's pro-democracy movement, deter settler violence, stop settlement growth, uphold international law and end the occupation. Both Israelis and Palestinians deserve lasting peace, self-determination and freedom.

"That view now represents the center of the Democratic Party. Our endorsees makeup over 50% of all Democrats in the House and Senate, as well as President Biden himself.

"AIPAC closed their fundraising letter by saying, 'J Street and AIPAC represent diametrically opposed visions for the US-Israeli friendship.' On that, at least, we agree.

"We stand unapologetically with the pro-democracy protesters who have been in the streets of Israel for months now, standing up for the kind of liberal democracy they want their country to be. We stand with Israeli peace, justice and coexistence groups working for a better future.

"That AIPAC has nothing to say about the pro-democracy cause and the genuine concerns of so many Jewish Americans – and would prefer to spend their millions attacking J Street – truly says a lot more about them than about us."