Boycotting J Street is a serious mistake
Op-ed: Instead of pushing Jewish bodies into arms of demonization campaign, we must strengthen pro-Israel side which still exists in them.
The annual Celebrate Israel Parade is scheduled to take place on June 1, and the Jewish right refuses to march alongside bodies affiliated with the New Israel Fund or J Street. The dispute is only heating up.
The bodies at the center of the dispute argue that one does not have to support the government's policy in order to be pro-Israel. They are right. No one will deny Isaac Herzog's right to take part in any pro-Israeli parade just because he is the opposition leader.
So the main question is whether this is legitimate criticism or whether these bodies have crossed the red lines, which justifies leaving them "outside the tent," as the Americans call it.
The criticism stands on solid ground. Those exposed to the activity of these bodies do not become lovers of Zion. Some of them become blatant anti-Semites.
The J Street organization associates with bodies like Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), which has become one of the key bodies in the industry of Israel's demonization, and with supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
When a pro-Israel lecturer arrived at Boston University, J Street activists showed up to portray him as a liar, presenting false claims. When in another campus a ban was imposed on the activity of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) over their solidarity with terror, J Street rushed to their defense in an official statement. In the name of freedom of expression of course.
As part of their activity, J Street activists have probably failed to initiate a single pro-Israel event.
One can be very critical of the Israeli government, which supports an expansion of the settlements, without being anti-Israel, just like Professors Irwin Cotler and Alan Dershowitz, for example. But Dershowitz is one of the stars of "The J Street Challenge," a film which raises difficult questions about the organization.
The film exposes the gap between the official statement that J Street is a "pro-Israel" body and the fact that it gets donations from pronounced anti-Israel figures, like billionaire George Soros or a member of an organization supporting Iran's ayatollah regime.
J Street's objection to sanctions against Iran raises more than just discomfort. And there is more. One of J Street's leaders, Daniel Levy, claimed that the creation of the State of Israel was a mistake. The organization refused to comment on the claims.
This largely applies to the activity of the New Israel Fund as well. Criticism is a legitimate matter. Cooperating with the demonization campaign is a different story.
Despite all this, boycotting these bodies is a serious mistake. There are two spirits running through these bodies. One is pro-Israel, which is concerned that Israel will turn into a bi-national state; and the other is mainly pro-Palestinian, increasingly absorbed in the demonization campaign.
We must exposed the anti-Israel activity, the hypocrisy. But at the same time, we must also strengthen the pro-Israel side which still exists in them. This is the reason why Knesset members, even from the center, and recently even from the Likud, have attended J Street's annual gatherings.
There is no need to agree. There is a need to influence. Despite it all and after all, these bodies are closer to Meretz than to Azmi Bishara. There are more than enough bodies belonging to the demonization campaign. We must remove J Street and the New Israel Fund from there. There is no need to push them there.
