Why I’m Joining J Street
I’m thrilled to announce that I’m joining J Street as Senior Vice President and Chief Policy Officer.
And it’s not just me: The J Street Policy Team is also bringing on board a slew of top-tier former officials as fellows and contributors.
That includes former Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations Frank Lowenstein, former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Jen Gavito, former USAID West Bank Mission Director Larry Garber and former Chief of Staff to Israel’s Minister for Regional Cooperation Yael Patir.
I want to get into why this matters, but first, let me introduce myself.
I was born in Israel to American parents who made aliyah, and I moved to the United States at the age of eight. That early experience fostered a lifelong interest in working on issues related to Middle East security.
Early in my career, I worked at the Department of Defense and the Senate on Iran, the US-Israel security relationship, the Arab Spring and other issues facing the region.
I then served as part of Secretary Kerry’s team as we pressed forward on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations – I saw firsthand what worked, and what didn’t.
More recently, I worked as Vice President Harris’ Middle East Advisor in the White House, which is where I was on October 7th, before eventually moving on to her presidential campaign as National Jewish Outreach Director.
I’m excited to be joining J Street because of the progressive, pragmatic and absolutely essential role this organization plays within the Jewish community, on Capitol Hill and within the Democratic Party.
I’ve thought long and hard about this decision and about why this moment is so critical and why J Street is so essential RIGHT NOW. Below, I’ve written a short essay sharing my perspectives. I hope you will take the time to read it and subscribe to my Substack here.
Yours in hope and determination,
Over the past 4 months, I’ve thought long and hard about the next step I want to take in my career. Today, I am excited to start at J Street as Senior Vice President and Chief Policy Officer. Let me tell you why.
Coming off of the presidential campaign in the fall, I concluded that the Democratic Party, American Jews and progressives had a lot of work to do to reunify around a common set of beliefs and values as it pertains to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, countering antisemitism and protecting our democracy. In the aftermath of October 7th, some of the loudest voices in the Jewish community tilted hard right associating support for Israel with support for the extremist government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Some of the loudest voices on the left began supporting anti-Zionism, which sometimes crossed into antisemitism, violence and support for terrorist organizations. The result of this fracture was that even as American Jews voted for Kamala Harris with over 70% support because they agree with the Democratic Party on so many domestic issues, there is a danger of a real schism on Israel where Jews become increasingly alienated from their natural liberal political home in the United States…