[ ]J Street [ ]
Friend,

Last week, AIPAC circulated a piece of mail dedicated to what they called
one of the “gravest threats” they’re currently confronting. 

What was this threat? 

Not Netanyahu’s anti-democratic “judicial overhaul” that’s sparked months
of turmoil and continues to bring hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy
protesters to the streets. 

Not the worsening of conflict and terror in Israel and the West Bank, nor
the one-state nightmare of deepening, permanent occupation.

Not even the danger of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, which have been less and
less restricted since former President Trump’s disastrous abandonment of
the Iran nuclear agreement.

No. The subject of AIPAC’s four-page mailer was J Street – a movement of
pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy Americans which they described as
part of the “anti-Israel fringe.”

[1]AIPAC's letter labeling J Street a one of the 'gravest threats'

Friend – It’s bewildering that in this time of deep anxiety and
concern over Israel’s future, AIPAC has made attacking J Street the main
focus of their work. 

How did we get here? 

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 wing than with the Jewish and
democratic values held by the majority of both Jewish Americans and
Israelis themselves.

Like many J Streeters, our love for Israel is grounded in our family
histories – both of which are rooted in Israel’s founding and the fight
for its survival. 

We helped build J Street because we want to see a thriving Jewish,
democratic Israel, living in peace with its Palestinian neighbors and
embodying the founding values of its Declaration of Independence. 

Yet AIPAC believes it's “outrageous” and “false” for folks like us to
consider ourselves among Israel’s supporters. 

In their view, there seems to be no room for genuine concern over endless
settlements, eroding democracy, discriminatory rhetoric and creeping
annexation. Certainly no room for determined US leadership to deter
Israeli leaders from continuing down this dangerous path. 

But this position has left them with virtually nothing constructive to say
to address the very real concerns of pro-Israel Americans at this moment.
Nothing to say about the mass movement of Israelis who warn that their
democracy is slipping from their grasp, and who are desperate for more
support from the United States. 

So AIPAC is resorting to scaremongering, division and lies. A full four
pages of it. 

It’s a strategy of diversion 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 now employs).

Just as AIPAC has endorsed extremist leaders like Ted Cruz and Jim Jordan
– and over 100 members of Congress who voted to overturn the 2020
presidential election – so too are they embracing their political tactics
and strategies.

Their letter was replete with distortions and untruths about J Street, our
positions and our supporters. No matter what they say, the record shows
that we support security assistance to Israel, back Iron Dome, oppose the
Global BDS Movement and welcome Israel’s growing acceptance by its
neighbors.

They may call our organization “fringe,” but J Street endorsees make up
over 50% of all Democrats in the House and Senate, as well as President
Biden himself. None of our endorsees have tried to overturn an election,
strip away women’s reproductive rights, nor embraced white nationalist
rhetoric. 

We assume that AIPAC’s approach – marked by well over 100 attacks on J
Street on social media and in traditional media this year – is a winning
one in the eyes of the GOP mega-donors who have given millions of dollars
to their Super PAC to fund attack ads on Democrats in primaries.

But that approach doesn’t seem likely to be effective at getting
disenchanted former supporters to “rejoin” their organization, their
letter’s stated goal. 

“J Street and AIPAC represent diametrically opposed visions for the
US-Israeli friendship,” AIPAC wrote.

On that, at least, we can agree.

J Street stands with the pro-democracy protesters who – by the hundreds of
thousands – have flooded the streets of Israel for months now, standing up
for the kind of liberal democracy they want their country to be. 

Our vision is that of Israel’s founders, who wrote in their Declaration of
Independence that the country would be “based on freedom, justice and
peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel” and would “ensure complete
equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants
irrespective of religion, race or sex.”

We built J Street to be a broad and welcoming political home for the
overwhelming majority of Jewish and pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy
Americans. Thanks to the efforts of supporters like you, more and more
people are joining our ranks every day. 

Undeterred by attacks and more committed than ever to our mission, we will
continue to chart a clear course, guided by our values, and fueled by your
grassroots support. 

Thank you, sincerely, for being a part of that work. 

Yours,

Ambassador Alan Solomont (ret.)
Chair, J Street Board of Directors

Jeremy Ben-Ami
Founder and President, J Street


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J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy
Americans who want Israel to be secure, democratic and the national home of the
Jewish people. Working in American politics and the Jewish community, we
advocate policies that advance shared US and Israeli interests as well as Jewish
and democratic values, leading to a two-state solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.



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