By: Justin Stearns

Justin Stearns — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:30:53 +0000

By the way, very good post with some comment on this over at Informed Comment:
http://www.juancole.com/2010/02/decline-of-israeli-right-and-increasing.html

By: Justin Stearns

Justin Stearns — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:04:05 +0000

This is interesting, and it may reveal the greater difficulty that J-Street is going to face: from the point of view of those–such as the current Israel government–who support the current America-Israeli relationship and the way that things have been done in the past, why do you need J-Street when you have AIPAC? Because wouldn’t J-Street be doing the same thing? But if you take the view of many of J-Street’s supporters that it is an American organization that sympathizes with Kadima, the political opposition of the current Israeli government, then why should Ayalon want to meet with them? It may be ludicrous from J-Street’s perspective (and my own) question their support of Israel, but from the perspective of the current Likud government the platform that J-Street is supporting—one which, if I understand it correctly—questions the value of the settlements in the West Bank and even perhaps East Jerusalem, goes completely against what they believe is in Israel’s interest. In the case, then, Ayalon’s snub shouldn’t really be placed in the same light as his comically poor mishandling of the Turkish ambassador, where he placed unnecessary tension on an important strategic alliance. With J-Street on the other hand, he’s simply sending a not so subtle message to Congress as to which US Jewish lobbying groups Netanyahu’s government favors.
For another example of Ayalon’s logic (If you support criticism of the Israeli government, you are not a Zionist), see this recent piece by Danny Danon, Deputy Speaker of the Israeli Parliament: http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3850957,00.html

Comments on: Ayalon at it Again!

By: Justin Stearns

By: Justin Stearns