2025-08-02 18:36 <br/> Tags: #AmericanJewry #organization #Lobby #LeftwingJewry ![[THE MATRIX/images 3/image.png|532x162]] # J Street - J Street is the predominant left wing Jewish special interest lobbying organization in DC. - J Street also operates its own network of related organizations (student groups, PACS). - J Street was founded in 2007 by [[Jeremy Ben-Ami]]. - Jeremy Ben-Ami is the son of [[Yitzhak Ben-Ami]], an Israeli [[Irgun and Lehi Zionist Paramilitary Organizations|Irgun]] operative working in the US in the 1940s. - Jeremy Ben-Ami was [[Bill Clinton]]'s Deputy Domestic Policy Advisor. - [[Daniel Levy]], an Israeli government advisor, was also a J street founder. - J Street calls itself a "Zionist" organization. - J Street is affiliated with the US based left wing NGO [[New Israel Fund]]. - J Street founder Ben-Ami formerly worked as the New Israel Fund communications director. - J Street hosts an annual high profile conference. - The conference has hosted Joe Biden (as VP) and Sec State John Kerry among a long list of left wing US politicians. - Multiple Left wing Knesset members attended the first J street conference in 2009, Meir Sheetrit and Haim Ramon among them. Since then many notable Israelis have attended including former Prime Minister [[Ehud Olmert]]. - J Street, often shunned by major US Jewish groups, has found common ground with the [[ADL]] in "fighting antisemitism." #### J Street and the Jewish Right - Israel's left wing "peace" wing has long been involved with J street. This includes Israeli intel agents, former generals, and various members of left wing Israeli political parties. - J Street takes left wing positions on many Israeli issues including: - Opposition to Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. - Opposition to the insatiable territorial expansionism of the Israeli right. - Support of the 2015 Obama [[Iran Nuclear Deal]]. - Support of a two state solution regarding the Israeli Palestinian conflict. - J Street is strongly opposed by [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] and his faction of Israeli politics. - [[Danny Danon]], a Likud hardliner, doesn't even consider J Street pro Israel. - The Israeli Ambassador under Netanyahu leaves J Street out of briefings on purpose. - At the same time, the Knesset opposition makes a point of convening with J Street leaders to discuss strategy. #RedPill *Why are groups getting briefed by foreign countries allowed to lobby my government?* - The major US Jewish groups mostly oppose J Street. They View J Street as far to compromising on the Palestinian issue with some even calling J Street antisemitic. Groups opposing J Street include: - [[AIPAC]] - [[Zionist Organization of America (ZOA)]] - [[Conference of Presidents]] - The [[Conference of Presidents]], the umbrella for over 50 of the major US Jewish groups, rejected J Street's bid to join in 2014. - During its 2014 bid to join the Conference, the [[ADL]] and the [[Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA)]] supported J Street. - In recent years J Street has had increased involvement with the Conference of Presidents. *I explain the right wing opposition to J Street to highlight something important. J Street is just as much a part of American organized Jewry as any other group; it operates on behalf of a foreign country, subverting American sovereignty. J Street is the enemy of AIPAC but works with the ADL. Left and right wing Jews both believe they represent collective Jewry. When the ZOA and Ben Shapiro oppose J Street, they do so for entirely separate reasons from you and I.* #### J Street U - J Street has an on-campus student group called J Street U. - The J Street Education Fund, another arm of J Street, funds campus activities undertaken by J street U. - J Street U is the continuation of a previous student group the [[Union of Progressive Zionists]]. - J Street U is for left wing progressive yet still pro-Israel students. - J Street U operates its own version of [[Birthright Israel]] called "Let Our People Know." - The program, like Birthright Israel, gives Jews a free trip to Israel. The difference, is that the J Street U program attempts to show reality of the ongoing occupation facing the Palestinians. #### JStreetPAC - JStreetPAC is the US political fundraising arm of J Street which began operating in 2008. - The PAC raises money to fund Democrat political candidates. - The PAC used a combined $2.4 million in 95 different 2014 congressional races. - In 2016 they used $3.6 million in 124 congressional races. - In 2024 they used ~$15 million in 127 races. - J Street brags about spreading pro choice advertising in the 2024 election. #### Funding and benefactors - Infamous Jewish billionaire [[George Soros]] has been a significant, although quiet, financial backer of J Street since its beginnings. - Soros has given millions to J Street and his contributions made up 15% of all J Street funding in its early years. - Bill Benter, an immensely successful gambler turned philanthropist was among the most significant early backers of J Street providing ~$800,000 in the organizations first two years. - The [[Nathan Cummings Foundation]], a left wing Jewish group, provided a "significant six-figure" donation to J Street. - Deborah Sanger of the [[Sanger Family Foundation]] was an early backer of J Street. Sanger sat on the J Street advisory council. - The Sanger's are very far left Jewish donors. They heavily back anti-white groups. - [[Davidi Gilo]], an Israeli American tech founder and venture capitalist was an early J Street backer. Like Sanger he sat on J Street's advisory council. - Additionally, J Street publishes an annual report which lists all its thousands of major donors sorted in groups based on level of contribution. There are many notable groups and individuals within the donor list each year. I recommend going to their website and reading the annual reports to go deeper. https://jstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/J-Street-Financials-2023-FINAL.pdf *Here is a link to the 2023 financial report.* #### Recommended Reading The Israel lobby - John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt #### References - Chris Good. “Raising More Money, J Street Discloses Big Donors.” _The Atlantic_, September 24, 2010. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/09/raising-more-money-j-street-discloses-big-donors/63520/. - Forward. “AIPAC Faces Blowback for Attacks on J Street after Soros Donation.” _The Forward_, March 2022. https://forward.com/news/485193/aipac-j-street-soros/. - Eichner, Itamar. “J Street: PM Refuses to Meet Delegation.” _Ynetnews_, June 6, 2011. [https://www.ynetnews.com/article/4078936](https://www.ynetnews.com/article/4078936). - Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “Conference of Presidents Rejects J Street Membership.” _JTA_, April 30, 2014. https://www.jta.org/2014/04/30/politics/conference-of-presidents-rejects-j-street-membership. - J Street. “Myths and Facts.” J Street official website. Accessed August 2025. https://jstreet.org/myths-and-facts/. - Wikipedia. “J Street.” Last modified August 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_Street. - Rose, Alex. “A Man and His Wayward Son.” _The Times of Israel_ (blog), August 24, 2017. [https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-man-and-his-wayward-son/](https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-man-and-his-wayward-son/).