Everyone voted in favor... except the J Streeters
Congress voted 411-2 to reaffirm US cooperation with Israel on Thursday. But one of the two people who voted against has received PAC money from J Street, the wolf in sheep's clothing that masquerades as a 'pro-Israel, pro-peace' organization. And ten more representatives who have been beneficiaries of J Street donations took a page out of President Obama's book and voted 'present.'The bi-partisan bill, which was sponsored by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, reaffirms Israel’s right to defend itself in the face of terror attacks and redoubles Congress’ support for the “unique and special relationship” between America and the Jewish state. The bill also expresses support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflictI would suggest that the Jewish community refuse to support any federation that supports J Street or allows it to become a member.
Rep. John Dingell (D.,Mich.), a J Street 2012 endorsee, voted against the bill.
Those who voted present include: Reps. Lynn Woolsey (D., Calif.), Barbara Lee (D., Calif.), Pete Stark (D., Calif.), Andre Carson (D., Ind.), Donna Edwards (D., Md.), Betty McCollum (D., Minn.), Keith Ellison (D., Minn.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), and Earl Blumenauer (D- Ore.). All have either been endorsed by J Street or have publicly been affiliated with the “pro-Israel, pro-peace” lobbying group.
Two other J Street supporters, Reps. Bob Filner (D., Calif.) and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D., Calif.), initially did not vote in favor of the pro-Israel bill but later amended their votes to express support.
J Street itself was “neutral” on the enhanced security cooperation bill, though the organization regularly touts its self-described backing of a strong U.S.-Israel alliance. A J Street spokesperson did not respond to a request seeking clarification of its position.
Elliott Abrams, a former National Security Council adviser to President George W. Bush, slammed J Street for not taking a principled stand in favor of the legislation.
“There is a genuine bipartisan consensus in Congress supporting increased military aid to Israel, but J Street appears to be outside it. When you move left in both the American Jewish community and on the Hill, you find that support for Israeli security becomes a matter of slogans rather than of actions,” Abrams said.
“J Street ought to issue a tough statement criticizing the members who opposed the US-Israel Security Cooperation Act, but I would not hold my breath.”
Labels: J Street, pro-Israel pro-peace, US House of Representatives
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:31 AM
1 Comments:
Interesting that all but 1 of those voting against, or voting "present", have Dem. after their name.
Whereas, a growing majority of Republicans, like a growing majority of Americans in general, have come to see things correctly. That America and Israel have common cause, that we -the whole West for that matter- have the same deadly enemies, that we share common democratic values, that America was founded on the bedrock of Judeo-Christian values, that we should stand firmly together, that, besides practical strong self-interest of both our nations, America has a profound moral obligation to stand by Israel.
(Run-on Sentence Record Length? :-)
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