A Stroll Down J Street

by Daniel E. Levenson

April 30, 2010

Initially I was curious about J Street because I had heard them touted as an organization designed to balance out the generally right-leaning AIPAC, but from what I saw at a recent event I attended, there is more substance to this organization than simply acting as a foil for another politically-oriented Jewish group. Street seems to be trying to do something very difficult, but noble nonetheless, which is to promote the idea of peace through the creation of a Palestinian state, without threatening the existence of Israel as a Jewish, democratic and sovereign nation.

The event included a video presentation composed of clips of several different speakers from the J Street conference held in Washington, DC this past October. The former US Ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, was one of the featured speakers on the video. In an editorial last week in the New Vilna Review I outlined why I disagreed with Ambassdor Indyk on the potential damage of the unresolved conflict on US prestige abroad, but he did make one point in his remarks that does make some sense to me in terms of thinking about why the United States has a vested interest in ending the conflict sooner rather than later, and that is that the inability to solve this problem may make the United States look bad in the eyes of the Arab world. Of course the British and the United Nations have also done their fair share of failing to achieve peace in the Middle East, so at least we’re not alone in that respect. One of the things that J Street seems focused on is maintaining a strong and vocal presence in terms of communicating its desire that the United States play an active role in peace-making efforts. I agree that America has a role to play in making peace, but I still feel that to try and push for a solution too fast is very risky and would not be a wise course for President Obama or the State Department to pursue.

What impressed me most about the evening was that from what I heard, this seems to be an organization which is equally dedicated to the security of Israel and to the creation of a lasting and stable two state solution. I plan to write more about J Street in the future, and it will be very interesting to see how this relatively young organization changes and evolves. If they can keep their focus on emphasizing both the importance of Israel’s continued security and survival, while still actively championing a peaceful solution that also creates a Palestinian state, then I think J Street might have a real future as an influential American Jewish organization.

Copyright Daniel E. Levenson 2010