I last wrote about J Street back in August, after the far left-wing group viciously smeared evangelical Christian supporters of Israel. Simply put, J Street is an anti-Israel organization with dubious benefactors that masquerades as a friend and supporter of the Jewish State ("the pro peace" pro-Israel crowd, according to JStreeters). Yet J Street openly advocates positions that would, according to Israeli government officials, harm Israeli interests. And that's why several members of Congress--who were previously unaware of J Street's anti-Israel positions--have decided to pull out of the group's upcoming conference in Washington, D.C. Once informed of J Street's true agenda, these lawmakers immediately came to their senses. But the Obama administration has apparently not. Incredibly, President Obama's National Security Advisor, James Jones, will be appearing at the JStreet event as the keynote speaker. The Weekly Standard's Michael Goldfarb, who has been all over this story from the beginning, has more:
We now have a "teachable moment" about the Obama White House.
For one thing, J Street has been bitterly hostile to the democratically-elected government of Israel. That's their right, just as the Zionist Organization of America had every right to be strongly critical of decisions by the Sharon government in 2005. But President Bush's national security advisor didn't speak to the annual meeting of ZOA. Prime Minister Netanyahu's national security advisor probably wouldn't speak to a group of birthers hanging out in Israel. In general, national security advisors tend not to speak to organizations that exist to criticize the government of a close ally. It will be interesting to see what Jones says about the Netanyahu government to the J Street crowd.
Second, what will Jones say about his fellow honored speakers? For example, THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that among the speakers is Josh Healey, author of the following "poem":
we call ourselves the chosen people
but I'm asking chosen for what?
chosen to recreate our own history
merely reversing the roles
with the script now reading that
we're the ones writing numbers
on the wrists of babies born in
the ghetto called Gaza
Goldfarb asks: will Jones be comfortable in the company of such people? How about radical Islamists? Salam al-Maryati, a man who has suggested that Israel may have been behind the 9/11 attacks, will also speak at the J Street conference. Anti-Semitic, 9/11 Trutherism is just the tip of the iceberg for al-Maryati, who works for a vehemently anti-Israel organization called the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
Why, then, is one of the Obama administration's top officials--a close confidante of the President himself on national security issues--appearing as an honored guest at such an event? Given the rash of cancellations by House members in recent days, the administration has to be aware of the growing controversy swirling around J Street and its extreme positions. Once again, it as almost as if (as I noted back in August, during the Mary Robinson fiasco) the administration is consciously trying to offend supporters of Israel. Could it be, as Philip Klein of the American Spectator, offers, that:
With each passing day, the outright contempt the Obama administration has for Israel becomes more apparent.
For the sake of both Israel and America, let's hope not. Early returns are certainly not encouraging.