WASHINGTON DC – J Street, the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans, announced today that it is launching a new J Street Action Fund that will aim to raise $1 million for targeted independent expenditures in key Congressional races in the 2022 cycle. The Action Fund will complement the work of JStreetPAC, a conduit PAC which raised over $7 million for 197 endorsed Congressional candidates and $2 million for the Biden-Harris campaign in the 2020 election cycle.

“Over the past decade, J Street has helped to dramatically shift the American political conversation about Israel and US foreign policy, making clear how much support there is for bold, principled diplomatic leadership,” said J Street’s president, Jeremy Ben-Ami. “Now, with American democracy itself under threat and groups to our right increasingly spending millions to push candidates towards more hawkish and conservative positions, the Action Fund will be a critical new tool of our work – allowing the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement to play a more involved role in key races of national importance.”

The J Street Action Fund will help to shape the public narrative and perception of what it means to be “pro-Israel,” demonstrating that candidates who adopt principled, pro-Israel, pro-peace, anti-occupation positions are in line with the views of most American Jews and can expect significant support from the community. It will help give the organization the flexibility to better support and defend aligned candidates facing unfair right-wing attacks, whether in significant Democratic primaries or in the general election.

“At a time when we should all be focused on defending our democracy from those who threaten it, right-wing groups sadly are making it a priority to target progressives who refuse to adopt their outdated and unhelpful approach to Israel and US foreign policy,” Ben-Ami said. “That dynamic is ultimately harmful for Israel, for US interests, and for the American Jewish community – which is why J Street will do all that we can to push back.”

In addition to the new Action Fund, J Street also announced the creation of J Street Grassroots Action, which will empower donors to help defend democracy and invest in long-term political change by channeling contributions to local organizations on the cutting edge of grassroots organizing in key states. In the 2022 election cycle, J Street Grassroots Action will partner with Georgia Alliance for Progress in the state of Georgia and with LUCHA (Living United for Change) in the state of Arizona.