Why I Founded J Street
Jeremy Ben-Ami
It was 2009. J Street was one year old, and I was seated in the White House’s Roosevelt Room next to the leaders of almost every major Jewish group in America.
I remember the looks we got before President Obama entered. According to the New York Times, several right-leaning establishment groups seated next to me had “vehemently protested” the President’s decision to invite us.
They weren’t happy to see me. They were even less happy with what President Obama was about to say.
One leader said there should be “no daylight” between the White House and the Israeli government, and never any public criticism. The president replied candidly: “I disagree.”
Now, my great-grandparents made aliyah to Israel in the 1880s. My grandparents helped found Tel Aviv. My father fought for the country’s independence. I myself lived in Israel through some of the most horrific days of the second intifada.
I founded J Street out of a deep love for the Jewish homeland – and deep anguish over the direction things were heading. I felt nobody at that table was speaking for my values.
We could see the growing power of right-wing, antidemocratic forces in Israel. A settlement movement laying the groundwork for permanent, undemocratic control of the West Bank. Leaders seeking a narrower, more Isolated Israel, forsaking our pluralistic Jewish values, locking in endless conflict. Their answer: To do nothing.
As President Obama said, “no daylight” would ensure no progress toward peace. He articulated a balanced approach – holding fast to ironclad support for Israel’s security, but firmly pushing back on harmful policies like settlement expansion.
The past painful year has shown the necessity of that nuanced approach more than ever.
The unspeakable sadism and depravity of Hamas on October 7 shook our entire community. Young people massacred. Hostages ripped from their homes. Unrelenting anguish for their families. Our Israeli staff count friends among those taken hostage.
Our community’s pain is only made worse by the unbearable suffering in Gaza, the Netanyahu government’s disgraceful, ongoing violations of our values, and the failure of President Biden to use US leverage to address it.
Families torn apart by grief. More than one million people displaced. More than 12,000 children killed. Doctors operating by flashlight, treating catastrophic injuries without anesthetics or antibiotics.
Now, with the re-election of Donald Trump, I’m deeply worried things will get even worse.
We’re bracing for an unrestrained Netanyahu who’ll soon have full White House backing for his pro-war, anti-democratic, annexationist agenda.
J Street’s most urgent priority is pressing President Biden to take a series of immediate steps to address the hostage crisis, improve aid access, reinforce legal safeguards, restrain far-right extremists and blunt the impact of the Trump-Netanyahu agenda.
You can join us by signing our petition to the President here.
Once Trump takes office, we’ll continue the fight. We’ll work with allies in Congress and beyond. We’ll build bridges, strengthen coalitions and amplify our impact. We’ll be an uncompromising voice for our values: A voice of sanity, honesty, reason and compassion.
And we’ll strengthen ties with our pro-democracy, pro-peace allies in Israel too: Amplifying their voices, standing up for what’s right, and fighting for a just, democratic, peaceful future.
Charting a path out of this calamity for our country and the region will be challenging, but we’re already laying plans for it. We’ll rebuild infrastructure to defeat MAGA leaders at the ballot box, shape policy within the Democratic Party and support a new generation of leadership.
And unlike other pro-Israel groups, we will never seek to rely on right-wing megadonors cutting million dollar checks to push their own agenda. We proudly count on Jewish and pro-Israel Americans across the country chipping in whatever they can to support our movement.
Thank you, sincerely, for being a part of that work and a part of our community. We can only succeed if we do this together.