Washington – Some 160 members of Congress have signed on to the host committee of J Street’s first annual conference this October, the organization announced Wednesday. have signed on to the host committee of J Street’s first annual conference this October, the organization announced Wednesday.
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The year-and-a-half-old, self-described “pro-Israel, pro-peace” lobby will feature former Republican senator Chuck Hagel as its keynote speaker for the gala dinner it will be holding – one of only a handful of Republicans on the list of congressional sponsors for the event.
In announcing the conference, J Street also listed Democratic Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as another keynote speaker. However, a Kerry spokesman told The Jerusalem Post that the announcement was premature, as Kerry had not yet confirmed his attendance.
A J Street organizer acknowledged the error, but stressed the organization’s hope that he would accept the invitation.
The Israeli Embassy also had yet to respond to J Street’s invitation that the ambassador participate.
The host committee, which is separate from the list of members planning to attend the conference, includes several members of Congress known for their staunch support of Israel, including Democrats Jane Harman and Henry Waxman of California, and Steve Israel of New York.
The committee also includes some representatives perceived in many quarters as hostile toward Israel, including Democrats Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and Jim Moran of Virginia.
The announcement notes that one-third of the Senate and House Foreign Affairs Committee were on the committee, though missing from the list were the latter’s chairman, Howard Berman, and Middle East subcommittee chairman, Gary Ackerman.
Ackerman, one of the few members of Congress who responded to a Post request for comment about the event, used the Yiddish phrase meaning “I can’t dance at every wedding” to explain his absence.
Still, J Street expressed satisfaction at the lengthy list of names for the gala, which is the capstone event for the four-day conference exploring the situation in the Middle East, the US-Israel relationship and how activists can most effectively pursue the group’s agenda on Capitol Hill.
“The depth and breadth of our host committee demonstrates the growing support in Congress and nationally for strong US leadership in pursuit of a peaceful, diplomatic resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab conflicts,” said Jeremy Ben-Ami, J Street’s executive director, in a statement.
We have to fight our enemies from within…jstreet has taken years of israel diplomacy which is a slow process and has thrown us back to anti semitic times when our own people have been blind enough to set our fate…this is scary! This is why secular Jews need to understand why Israel is ours from a Biblical perspective and not an arab one
Kol Hakovod to J Steet for giving a voice to a different perspective on middle eastern issues and EY. They are fortunate in having attracted some of the top Democratic leaders to their discusssions. Clearly, AIPAC is still thedominant voice but J Street will be a worthy counterpoint.
J Street is not ‘pro-peace’ but merely was created to be an echo of the Obama administration position. In that light, it is easier to understand (though still quite worrisome for those who actually are pro a Jewish State in the Middle East) that 150 members of Congress would have their names associated with this entity.
Talk is cheap. I have strong doubts that anything substantial can be accomplished by these conferences, speeches, and publicity stunts. We have all discovered that the “diplomatic” means of solving issues in the Middle East have never succeeded in bringing about change. The Islamic groups, countries, parties, etc. have a track record that renders negotiation or other verbal attempts meaningless – although they sound wonderful, peace-loving, and humanitarian. And much of the goilem public buys this. We all know that the only way that anything moves is with brute, military force. Of course, the mainstream socialist media around the world will always blame Israel as the aggressor who commits war crimes, but reality and these socialist clowns cannot even be spoken about in the same breath. So there is another conference, more noise, more anti-Israel op-eds and political cartoons. Obama and his administration with most Democrats will sit by and cheer as if there is something being accomplished. It gives the hotels and caterers business, and it keeps the media scrambling for quotes so that Obama can ram health care legislation down our throats while we are distracted. We Want Moshiach Now.
j street stands for judenrein street.
pro peace is one thing, but how can you be pro Israel and against sanctions on Iran- which has called for the destruction of Israel- at once???
I looked at their speakers list and could only identify one person as Orthodox: Rabbi Michael Melchior. Are there any others?
There have always been undermines and self-destroyers among the Jewish people. J-Street is the modern day incarnation of that club.
Many senators that might attend this event are very strong supporters of AIPAC. There is no way someone like Jane Harman or Steve Israel can be called anti-Israel leftists. Politicians are politicians. They have to attend all types of organizations and events because it’s their job. The results will matter in halls of Congress when they vote on foreign aid budget to Israel. Just because a Congressman gives a nice speech at JStreet doesn’t mean he will be less supportive of Israel when push comes to shove.