'We've Hit A Nerve'
J Street facing stiff challenges amid rise.
James D. Besser
The Jewish Week
New York
D
elegates to the upcoming nation-
al conference by J Street, the
group that has become the favor-
ite target of a furious pro-Israel establish-
ment, will face both their organization's
exhilarating rise and eroding commitment
to Israel-related issues by the very Jews it
hopes to attract to its ranks.
"J Street faces a variety of significant
challenges:' said Jim Gerstein, a longtime
Jewish peace activist and a pollster who
has done some of J Street's widely debated
surveys. "The 'single issue' pro-Israel people
are lined up on the other side:'
On the eve of its first major confer-
ence, which begins Oct. 25, J Street may
come closer to reflecting the core views on
Israel of a Jewish majority, he said — but
single-issue groups like the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)
have big advantages in fundraising and in
energizing their more narrowly focused
constituents.
Other observers note that by some mea-
sures, the Jewish community is shifting
to the right on Middle East issues. And
relentless attacks on the 18-month-old
pro-peace process lobby and political
action committee for its positions on last
year's Gaza war and Iran sanctions, among
others, may be having an impact. Recently,
an Israeli embassy official got into the
act, telling the Jerusalem Post that J Street
advocates policies that could "impair
Israel's interests:'
But J Street's early successes cannot be
discounted, Gerstein said.
"Look around the Jewish world; Jewish
organizations are laying off people and
having great difficulty raising money, but J
Street is growing very fast:' he said. "What
does that tell you?"
A longtime Jewish political analyst who
asked not to be identified said, "J Street has
to play things very carefully because there
are a lot of opponents out there waiting for
the slightest misstep:' this source said.
The group also suffers from early com-
parisons to AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby
group widely regarded as one of the most
powerful lobbies in Washington.
Under the best of circumstances, it would
18
October 22 • 2009
take years of skillful planning, fundraising
and outreach to approach AIPAC's reach and
power. Some J Street supporters may have
done it a disservice by hailing the new group
as an instant counterweight to the estab-
lished lobby — a comparison that makes
it easier for critics to portray J Street as a
lightweight.
View From The Top
J Street's founder and president Jeremy
Ben-Ami said he is aware of these and other
challenges the new group faces — and of
the risks of rejecting growing calls for a show
of American Jewish unity on Israel. But he
pointed to some tangible signs of success in
the last election cycle and, more importantly,
to the group's growing ability to attract
younger Jews who have been exploring new
routes to Jewish religious involvement and
who are seeking a new relationship with the
Jewish state, as well.
Ben-Ami put a positive spin on the inces-
sant barrages of criticism from the right and
from some mainstream pro-Israel leaders.
"One of the most exciting things for me is
what a central element J Street has become
in the communal conversation:" he said last
week. "We have clearly opened up a timely
and badly needed conversation. The reaction
of others shows we've hit a nerve; I see a very
positive element in that reaction:'
But for a lobby and political action com-
mittee, it all comes down to political perfor-
mance, said Brandeis University historian
Jonathan Sarna.
"If candidates with J Street views can win
elections, then J Street has the possibility
of gaining power" he said. "If, as many sus-
pect, those who follow J Street rather than
Presidents Conference and AIPAC directives
find that they have lost the pro-Israel vote,
then J Street will rapidly lose favor. In the
final analysis, the power of J Street will lie in
the votes that it can deliver:'
While critics deride J Street as a midget
in the shadow of the AIPAC behemoth,
many observers say its growth in the past 18
months has met or exceeded expectations.
The Money Front
Next week's conference has 1,000 registered
participants and 160 members of Congress
who have signed on as honorary banquet
hosts. J Street currently has a staff of 22 and
a $3 million annual budget. AIPAC boasts
of a $60 million plus annual budget, a $130
million endowment and 250 employees.
"It's a challenge to the
community as a whole; we
have to find ways to keep
bridges open between different
parts of our community with
di erent views."
Jeremy Ben-Ami
J Street has more than 4,000 contribu-
tors to its political action committee and
distributed $578,812 in contributions among
41 endorsed candidates in the 2008 election
cycle, "more than any other pro-Israel PAC,'
according to the J Street Web site.
Since then, it has raised money for several
embattled members of Congress, including
Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md., who incensed
Washington-area Jewish leaders by refusing
to back a congressional resolution early this
year supporting Israeli actions in Gaza. The
group also recently completed a fundraising
drive for Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., a pro-
peace process Democrat who will face an
uphill fight for re-election next year, that net-
ted $30,000 — more than the initial goal.
That fundraising component is what
distinguishes J Street from other pro-peace
process groups such as Americans for Peace
Now and the Israel Policy Forum — and
apparently scares other pro-Israel leaders.
It took AIPAC decades to build a vast
web of campaign donors who look to it as
the arbiter of what constitutes "pro-Israel"
and personal relationships with politicians
that begin well before they get elected to
Congress.
A big question for J Street: can it do the
same thing, but faster — and without
AIPAC's base of fervently committed, single-
issue activists? That's one reason J Street is
absorbing Brit Tzedek v 'Shalom, a pro-peace
process group with limited national visibility
but active chapters in several major cities.
Still Formative Stages
The consensus among several close observ-
ers: J Street has done better than most
expected, but has a long way to go.
Congressional sources say that the group's
Capitol Hill impact is in its embryonic
— J Street's Jeremy Ben-Ami
stages. Some pro-Israel lawmakers welcome
an alternative voice on crucial Middle East
issues; many others are wary of angering a
pro-Israel establishment that shows no signs
of weakening even as J Street gains some
traction.
J Street's Ben-Ami said the group knew
from the outset that convincing nervous
lawmakers to line up behind the alternative
lobby wouldn't be quick or easy.
"Ifs a gradual process," he said. "Every
week, we add one or two new people [in
Congress] we have contact with. Its one step
at a time, not a tidal wave. Its one of the ways
people try to marginalize J Street: making
it seem like we planned to overtake AIPAC.
In fact, the goal was always to demonstrate
that there is real diversity in the views of the
American Jewish community, and to take
our Capitol Hill activities one step at a time."
J Street also must contend with an
American Jewish left that — like its Israeli
counterpart — is tired, demoralized and
uncertain of the future. And it is confront-
ing a shift in the demography of pro-Israel
activism here.
Studies show a declining connection to
Israel among Jews in general — but a rising
feeling of closeness among the Orthodox as
well as rising activism in that faction.
"The Jewish left is considerably weaker,
less active and less engaged than a few years
ago',' said Kean University political scientist
Gilbert Kahn. "That's true of the Israel Policy
Forum, Americans for Peace Now and even
the more middle-of-the-road groups like
the American Zionist Movement. People are
tired. That's a problem for J Street"
At the same time, activism and involve-
ment on the right and in Orthodox circles
are on the increase, driven to a large extent
by"a religious fervor and a personal corn-