May 8, 2014
http://wordfromjerusalem.com/?p=5081
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Despite widespread predictions
to the contrary, J Street failed dismally to gain admission into the
Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations (Presidents
Conference).
It was unable to obtain the
constitutionally required two thirds majority and could not even muster a
simple majority. Only a third of the constituents supported its
affiliation.
An embittered J Street and its
allies have launched a campaign seeking to portray itself as a martyr,
claiming to have been blackballed by a fanatically right-wing Jewish
establishment which is blindly supportive of Israel, brooks no dissent
in its ranks and is effectively a bigoted reactionary body undermining
the pluralism and tolerance of the American Jewish community. The
reality is that the Presidents Conference also includes left-wing
organizations such as Americans for Peace Now, Ameinu and the Jewish
Labor Committee. It is also noteworthy that Rabbi Meir Kahane’s right
wing Jewish Defense League was previously excluded.
There have even been false
allegations that the voting was rigged. In fact, J Street was given a
fair hearing and overwhelmingly rejected by a majority of organizations,
many of whom were neither right-wing nor Orthodox.
The most vocal condemnation
against the exclusion came from Rabbi Richard Jacobs, head of the Union
of Reform Judaism - a former member of the J Street Board of Rabbis –
who even threatened to withdraw the Reform movement from the Presidents
Conference. Yet, were he to do so, this would create a schism within his
own movement. One need only read the recent moving appeal by Rabbi
Richard Block, President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis
(Reform) calling on rabbis to stand by and express solidarity rather
than continuously criticize Israel, to appreciate that Rabbi Jacobs’
enthusiastic support of J Street would not be endorsed by all his
colleagues and constituency.
His criticisms were endorsed by
Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, Executive Vice President of the Conservative
movement’s Rabbinical Assembly who described the vote as “misguided and
destructive”. Yet, in the same breath, she conceded that she had
“painfully witnessed” rabbis in her own movement facing searing
criticism from members for having joined the J Street “rabbinic
cabinet”.
What was the justification for
excluding J Street from the Jewish mainstream umbrella organization? Was
it, as J Street would have us believe, an intolerant expression of
prevailing bigotry, a fear of engaging in dialogue, an attempt to deny
freedom of expression to a dissenting minority, an effort to enforce
conformity and exclude dissidents from the ‘big tent’ of the Jewish
community?
Nobody is seeking to suppress
the right of J Street to express its views - which receive media
coverage far in excess of its standing and influence within the Jewish
community.
Nor is there fear of engaging
in dialogue and debate with J Street. On the contrary, I recollect that a
few years ago during a visit to New York, when invited to participate
in a TV debate, J Street informed the compere that it refused to share a
platform with me.
The crux of the issue, which
has distressed many well-intentioned people, is the confused belief that
the community has a moral obligation to encompass all viewpoints in the
‘big tent’ and that this was breached by excluding this purportedly
“pro-Israel, pro-peace” liberal, humanistic organization.
This presupposes that an
organization, primarily created with the express purpose of serving as a
vehicle to express support for Israel, should take under its umbrella
organizations committed to opposing its raison d’etre.
Most committed Jews believe in
the centrality of Israel in Jewish life. They also recognize that as a
matter of decency, Diaspora Jews should recognize that issues relating
to security should be determined exclusively by Israelis whose decisions
could have life and death repercussions on them and their children.
The Presidents Conference has
respected this status, irrespective of the political composition of the
democratically elected government of Israel and despite its constituents
spanning the broad political spectrum from Americans for Peace Now to
the hawkish ZOA. Despite J Street allegations to the contrary, the
Presidents Conference also steadfastly endorses a two state policy.
AIPAC is the most proactive
organization promoting the case for Israel on a ground level and can
take most of the credit for the bipartisan Congressional support that
Israel currently enjoys. One of J Street’s principal objectives is to
undermine AIPAC by maliciously and falsely labeling it an “extreme right
wing organization”, even accusing it of generating anti-Semitism by its
“one-sided support for Israel,” which creates hostile feelings that
American Jews harbor dual loyalties.
When J Street describes itself
as “pro-peace pro-Israel”, it is simply engaging in Orwellian
doubletalk. In reality, it is actively campaigning to encourage the US
government to exert greater pressure on the democratically elected
government of Israel. It has the chutzpah to insist that it knows better
than Israelis what is good for them and that they should be treated
with “tough love” like parents with drug-addicted children.
To cite a few examples of J Street’s bizarre “pro-Israel” initiatives:
- During Operation Cast Lead, J Street described Israel’s action as an “escalation” that was “counterproductive” and “disproportionate”. It ascribed moral equivalency to both sides, finding difficulty in distinguishing “between who is right and who is wrong” and “picking a side”.
- Despite its self-designated “pro-Israel” tag, J Street actively canvasses for and raises millions of dollars to fund anti-Israeli Congressional candidates.
- J Street claims to oppose Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, but invites pro BDS groups to promote their case at its conferences.
- A cofounder of J Street, Daniel Levy, is on record describing Israel’s creation as “an act that went wrong”.
- J Street collaborated with the biased UN Goldstone Committee which accused Israel of engaging in war crimes. It even facilitated meetings on Capitol Hill for Goldstone to promote his wretched now discredited report.
- For a long time, J Street totally opposed any sanctions being applied against Iran. It now lobbies against promoting the threat of military action.
- In 2011 J Street actively canvassed the White House not to veto a one-sided UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel.
- J Street described the behavior of IDF commandos on the Mavi Marmara Gaza flotilla ship as “cruel brutality”.
- J Street encourages its campus extension to promote discredited anti-Israeli groups like “Breaking the Silence” which promote lies about alleged IDF war crimes.
- It opposed a 2011 congressional petition condemning Palestinian incitement.
- J Street refuses to condemn the PA-Hamas deal.
- Most recently, it defended Secretary of State John Kerry’s offensive remarks that Israel could become “an apartheid state”.
- Until it was conclusively exposed, J Street leader, Jeremy Ben Ami, lied repeatedly to conceal that George Soros, the vicious anti-Israeli financier, was and still represents one of the principal funders of J Street. There are also other donors with questionable political interests.
It is surely undeniable that J Street is in fact canvassing and
promoting anti-Israeli initiatives whilst castigating and seeking to
undermine the policies of the democratically elected government of
Israel. If J-Street’s self-description of being pro-Israel were to be
accepted, we would truly be living in Alice in Wonderland.
Reform leader Rabbi Jacobs says
that there should be “no litmus test of ideological orientation”
applied to candidates for the Presidents Conference. Under such terms
Jews-for- Jesus and the Neturei Karta would presumably also qualify for
membership.
Rather than sanctimoniously
castigating the majority of organizations who voted to reject J Street,
Rabbi Jacobs and Rabbi Schonfeld should consider reviewing their own
educational programs which seem to lead many of their rabbis towards
supporting anti-Zionist leftists who demonize the Jewish state. They
should concentrate on educating youngsters about the values and
achievements of the Jewish state and its central role for the future of
the Jewish people.
Bringing organizations which
display constant hostility to Israel into a mainstream umbrella body
committed to promoting Israel would not widen the Jewish tent. It would
destroy it.
The writer’s website can be viewed at www.wordfromjerusalem.com.He may be contacted at ileibler@leibler.com
This column was originally published in the Jerusalem Post and Israel Hayom
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