Ruthie Blue Leibowitz interviews Jeremy ben-Ami of J-Street.
What constitutes being “anti-Israel?”
Being anti-Israel means rejecting the notion of the right of the Jewish people to a state that didn’t exist before, and that its establishment was a mistake. Those who question the very founding premise of this state are anti-Israel.
Ben Ami is skilled enough not to sound totally crazy in the interview. But the question behind every reasonable sounding he gives is: how will American pressure on Israel bring peace to the Middle East when the other side – both Hamas and Fatah – is clearly anti-Israel?
Still Ben Ami can take some comfort from the fact that there are those who think that he’s perfectly reasonable.
Among the many amusing sidelights to this rant is that Walt recommends that Bibi ditch Evangelical supporters of Israel and instead invite J-Street front man Jeremy Ben-Ami to Jerusalem to be his advisor. That’s funny because ever since J Street was born Ben-Ami has claimed that critics of his group who drew a straight line between his “pro-Israel lobby†and the anti-Israel philosophy of Walt and Mearsheimer are wrong. Somebody needs to tell Walt that his support won’t help Ben-Ami’s futile attempt to portray himself as the true voice of American Jewry on Israel.
Hmm. The pro-Israel Ben Ami gets an endorsement from the anti-Israel, Walt.
Related reading: Doing the J-Street Jive, J-Street and defining pro-Israel, and J-Street: You Know What American Campuses Need? More Left Wing Anti-Israel Activism.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
