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.”
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
