The warnings trickled in soon after an announcement began circulating last month that James A. Baker III, the former diplomat who is now a foreign policy adviser to Jeb Bush, would be a featured speaker at a conference hosted by J Street, the liberal pro-Israel advocacy organization. It could be problematic, conservative donors and Israel […]

Former secretary of state James Baker, a prominent figure in president George H. W. Bush’s administration and a critic of the Israeli government’s policies, is under fire from conservatives and pro-Israel activists for his decision to speak at the annual conference of the left-wing J Street lobby. But should the pro-Israel community’s concern extend to […]

Well before this week’s elections, Israel had already become a source of division for American Jews, who bitterly debated the ever-expanding Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories and the acceptable boundaries of dissent from Israeli policies. The outcome of the Israeli election will only deepen that polarization, experts say. Benjamin Netanyahu’s anti-Arab campaign rhetoric and his […]

J Street came under fire Sunday after opening its fifth annual conference in Washington over the weekend with a call for Jewish organizations to distinguish between Israel and the West Bank, including in fundraising. “We plan to challenge Jewish communal institutions to remember the physical and symbolic significance of the ‘Green Line,’” said Jeremy Ben-Ami, […]

Analysts said they believe American Jews would like to see a new Israeli government to help re-cement ties with the Obama administration. “I think American Jews will probably feel more relieved at this juncture if [Labor head Isaac] Herzog ends up forming the next government,” observed Alon Ben-Meir, a professor of international relations at the […]

The Obama Administration, Vice President Joseph Biden in particular, has waxed indignant over a letter co-signed by 47 Republican senators to the Iranian leadership warning that, without Congressional approval, any agreement on the Iranian nuclear program signed by President Barack Obama will be subject to reversal by a future president. Biden accuses the Republicans of […]

With electrifying passion and fury, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls vehemently denounced anti-Semitism before the French National Assembly recently, offering a blistering reproach to his countrymen for showing insufficient “outrage” at the “unacceptable,” “intolerable,”and “shameful” targeting of Jews. “History has taught us that the awakening of anti-Semitism is the symptom of a crisis for democracy […]

Many practitioners of Islam reject Jewish sovereignty and consider Jews (and Christians) to be dhimmis – treated as second-class citizens. Arabism or Arab nationalism reject Zionism. This is the harsh reality. Within mainstream Judaism, there is no such analogue. But the media – especially the liberal mainstream media – is reflexively prone to link anti-Semitism […]

Dr. Mark Christian grew up in Egypt the son of a Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader, physician and military officer, with all the privileges and pressures that came with that elite status. By the age of 12 he’d memorized more than 70 percent of the Quran. He was a child imam who studied in Cairo’s best […]

Of course, in some senses it is not at all a true statement, nor a fair one. The organization is growing, it is establishing regional branches, and here in northern New Jersey its regional director, Laura Fein, is working actively and visibly to establish the ZOA in what is likely to be fertile ground for […]