5 Myths About Being 'Pro-Israel'

By Jeremy Ben-Ami of that new J Street thing.

1.American Jews choose to back candidates largely on the basis of their stance on Israel.

This urban legend has somehow become a tenet of American Politics 101, which is why politicians work so hard to earn the pro-Israel label in the first place. But it's a self-serving fable, cultivated by a tiny minority of politically conservative American Jews who actually are single-issue voters.

What he doesn't address, at all, is who has the power to make that myth (and a number of related myths he doesn't address) so prevalent. It wasn't Jews. The right-wing Jews he talks about were promoted to prominence within the Jewish community by more powerful forces outside the Jewish community.

J street already "too Jewish"

Judeosphere notes that JStreet is already saying things "progressives" will hate. What will the moderates say when "more progressive" people start saying that they knew all along that it would just be another arm in the Zionist Lobby.

Vaguely related, since, as Judeosphere noted, J Street is concerned about Iran ("US policy towards Iran is not working. The threat of a nuclear Iran, its destabilizing regional influence and the vile rhetoric of its President are all real":) Seven ancient synagogues in the Iranian capital, Tehran, have been destroyed by local authorities

J Street

I'm still kind of skeptical about this J Street thing. Not because I disagree with any of it's stated aims, but because everything I've seen about J Street, up to this video, promotes the antisemitic framing of "the Israel lobby." There are a thousand dovish, pro-Israel groups already, like Meretz USA and Americans for Peace Now. (The apparent difference here is that those organizations are not registered as lobbies.) And people like Mearsheimer and Walt already know about them. I entirely expect that, as soon as Mearsheimer and Walt have some disagreement with this J Street project, they will conceive of the whole thing as just another head on the Jewish hydra.

You can listen to some more here.