We just finished up our largest-ever national conference.
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Dear Friend,

This past week we held the largest National Conference in J Street’s history, with over 4,000 pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans joining 2020 presidential candidates and inspiring Israeli and Palestinian speakers to stand together in Washington and make their voices heard.

We are facing a critical moment -- for democracy, for global American leadership and for the US-Israel relationship. But if this year’s gathering showed us anything, it’s that we are capable of rising to this moment. If we stand together, we can make real, transformative change. Already, we’ve succeeded in changing so much about how our politics work.

Together, we helped put serious discussion of American leadership and the US-Israel relationship on the 2020 agenda. We gave candidates a forum to outline their vision for the region, their plans for a post Trump-Netanyahu relationship and their strategies for challenging occupation and annexation. We made clear that the vast majority of American Jews are prepared to stand proudly in defense of Jewish and democratic values and pro-Israel, pro-peace policies.

As each of our speakers made clear, we are fighting a shared struggle in Israel and the United States against corrupt, xenophobic, anti-democratic leaders who put self-interest ahead of the interests of their people. That solidarity, and the need to find common cause with our allies, was a recurring theme.

In this week’s Street Talk, we share some of the highlights from the conference and the widespread, prominent coverage it received in the media -- another major indicator of the impact we’re making in reshaping the national debate on Israel and bringing the voices of our movement to the forefront.

Thank you so much for your support, and thank you to everyone who helped make the conference such an important milestone.

Logan Bayroff
Communications Director

Around J Street

2020 candidates go on the record with J Street

2020 Candidates
While we’re determined to defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box, we know that we also have to defeat his agenda around the country and around the world. A key part of that will be setting the agenda for a post-Trump foreign policy, laying the groundwork for a new vision of American leadership.

That’s why this year we were so proud to host five 2020 Democratic presidential candidates at our conference, including Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Secretary Julián Castro, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Michael Bennet. In three plenary sessions moderated by Pod Save the World hosts Ben Rhodes and Tommy Vietor, we dove into the US-Israel relationship, how candidates would tackle settlement expansion and annexation and whether they would take steps to ensure that US security assistance isn’t used to bankroll the occupation or potential annexation. All of the candidate interviews are available at our conference homepage, as well as recorded messages from those who were unable to attend, including former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Beto O’Rourke, Andrew Yang and Marianne Williamson.

In addition to the 2020 candidates, we were honored to be joined by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer at our national gala.
Watch Now →

J Street's work makes national headlines

Conference Center
When we stand together, our voices are powerful -- and the world takes notice. This year’s J Street Conference proved we have the strength to shape a national conversation about foreign policy, the US-Israel relationship and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We earned prominent coverage across the mainstream media, including stories in the New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, Bloomberg, NBC, MSNBC, CBS and HuffPost. They focused on how J Street has become a powerful advocacy force -- and is changing how political leaders approach the issues we care about:

  • The New York Times: “2020 Democrats at J Street Conference Reflect New Tone on U.S.-Israel Relations….Democratic attitudes toward Israel are shifting in the highest echelons of the party.”
  • The New York Times: “Polling data suggest that as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has drawn an increasingly hard line against Palestinians while cultivating a chummy relationship with President Trump, many Jewish voters and liberal Democrats have started to feel uneasy...Last spring, J Street commissioned a Democratic firm to poll likely primary voters nationwide about their feelings on Israel....the study’s findings paint a detailed picture of a Democratic electorate that is generally supportive of Israel but also concerned about the potential for unfair treatment of Palestinians.”
  • Associated Press: “The candidates’ attendance -- in addition to videos sent to J Street by five other hopefuls who could not attend -- underscores the importance of the Democratic-leaning Jewish-American voting bloc…The Trump-Netanyahu alliance has also strengthened J Street’s case for Democrats to stand against the Israeli leader’s pursuit of settlement expansion and annexation in the West Bank.”
  • Washington Post: “Jewish voters and political donors, who overwhelmingly support Democrats, have generally welcomed criticism of Netanyahu and his policies. And a younger generation of Democrats has shown an increasing willingness to break from past orthodoxy, which called for showing more unquestioning support for Israel.”
  • New Republic: “The progressive pro-Israel group has gone from outsider to political kingmaker...J Street has experienced something of a flourishing during the reign of President Donald Trump.”

J Street and J Street U launch campaign to impact Democratic Party platform

J Street U Board
After the success of their Let Our People Know Campaign, J Street’s grassroots student arm -- J Street U -- is taking the lead on a new J Street campaign urging the Democratic Party to update its platform to include support for Palestinian rights along with support for Israel’s security, and to state clear opposition to occupation, settlement expansion and annexation.

“We are calling on the Democratic party to publicly embrace the consensus by explicitly opposing occupation, annexation, and settlements in order to support a just and peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” President of J Street U Matan Arad-Neeman told attendees on opening night. “The time to act is now.”

In a later interview on stage, Representative Pramila Jayapal -- co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus -- called the push to change the platform “essential.”

You can support our new campaign by signing the call to action here >>
Take Action →

J Street welcomes prominent Israeli and Palestinian leaders, activists

Ehud Barak
As speaker after speaker reminded us at the conference, we are not in this fight alone. Defeating the far-right’s agenda, securing a better future for Israelis and Palestinians and fighting the forces of hate and anti-Semitism is collaborative work and demands close collaboration with our many American, Israeli and Palestinian partners.

We were proud to welcome prominent Israeli and Palestinian leaders to our stage. Partnership and collaboration was a major theme in a series of speeches from these leaders, including former Prime Minister Barak’s impassioned argument for a two-state solution and recommitment to the peace process, Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat’s passionate defense of Palestinian aspirations for statehood, Joint List Leader Odeh’s call for a new era of inclusive Israeli politics and Democratic Union Leader Horowitz’s championing of a truly progressive vision for Israel. On the mainstage and in breakout sessions, we were joined by a rising generation of activists, organizers and experts who are building new progressive, pro-peace movements and driving change on the ground. All the videos can be found here.
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© 2019 J Street | www.jstreet.org | [email protected]

J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace 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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