OPINION:
There are organizations in America that claim they are pro-Israel but receive funding from Israel’s enemies as well as Israeli and American leftists. They claim to be pro-peace and pro-Israeli development but actually take positions hostile to Israeli security. Two examples are J Street and the New Israel Fund.
J Street advertises itself as the “Political Home for Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace Americans.” Its website claims that “J Street organizes and mobilizes pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans who want Israel to be secure, democratic and the national home of the Jewish people.”
However, the first thing this website notes is, “At least 10 Palestinians were killed and more than 100 others wounded, Palestinian officials said, in a gun battle between Israeli soldiers and armed Palestinian groups in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Wednesday.” This is a quote from The New York Times, also no friend of Israel.
There was no mention of the Israelis killed the day before as they left Sabbath services. Basically, J Street is calling for a repeat of the Israeli troop withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. In addition, calling it “the Israeli-occupied West Bank” is the exact Palestinian narrative.
New Israel Fund is also no real friend of Israel. Its website notes: “NIF’s grantees are leading social change in Israel. Our grantees work on behalf of social and economic justice [and] advocate for the rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel.”
The real goal of these organizations and many Palestinians is reflected in their motto, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
That doesn’t leave much room for the Israelis.
CHARLES WINFIELD
Princeton, New Jersey
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