Israel Matzav

J Street: 'Pro-Israel' is still optional

In an interview with the Jerusalem Post, J Street executive director Jeremy Ben Ami hedges his bets on whether his organization is pro-Israel.

During a question-and-answer session, a student at the University of Pennsylvania, where the event was held in space rented from Hillel, asked Ben-Ami about reports that J Street’s university arm was dropping “pro-Israel” from its messaging.

“We absolutely never, ever dropped the pro-Israel part,” Ben-Ami said.

Later, he told The Jerusalem Post that J Street and J Street U share mission statements that support the State of Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people. “The question is whether or not every single group has to use the phrase, pro-Israel,” he said. “If they feel they can get more students to turn out using different words, they don’t need to put that in 48-point letters in everything they do.

“As long as their mission statement is clear, we’re going to give them some latitude in how they market their events,” he said.

So they're pro-Israel when it's convenient? When Israel's actions fit their worldview? What could go wrong?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:52 PM