Last month, nine members of congress voted against funding Israel’s Iron Dome defensive shield which had been severely depleted after the Palestinian political-terrorist group HAMAS fired thousands of rockets at Israeli cities and towns in May 2021. Fortunately, those congresspeople were in the minority, as the majority still supports Israel.
It should not come as a surprise that J Street, the pro-Palestinian group that markets itself as Pro-Israel, backed many of those anti-Israel politicians via their funding and endorsement arm, JStreetPAC:
| Politician | Backed by jstreet |
|---|---|
| Cori Bush (D-MO) | No |
| Andre Carson (D-IN) | Yes |
| Chuy Garcia (D-IL) | Yes |
| Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) | Yes |
| Thomas Massie (R-KY) | No |
| Marie Newman (D-IL) | Yes |
| Ilhan Omar (D-MN) | No |
| Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) | No |
| Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) | No |
Half of the members of congress (4 of 8, excluding the sole Republican as J Street is a far-left group that only backs Democrats) who voted against Israel’s defensive protection against Palestinian missiles were backed by J Street.
Another J Street-backed congressman, Mark Pocan (D-WI) who voted in favor of funding Iron Dome, joined Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in introducing legislation to block the sale of $735 million of weapons to Israel in May while Israel was under attack.
Pocan had been vocal about backing the Gazans hell-bent on killing Israelis a year earlier.
Pocan penned a letter together with another anti-Israel J Street-backed congresswoman Debbie Dingel (D-MI) to the Secretary of State in February 2020 seeking funds for Hamas-led Gaza which had repeatedly waged wars against Israel. That letter was sent shortly after a Palestinian poll which showed 75.1% of Gazans were in favor of armed attacks against Israeli civilians inside of Israel (question 67). The Pocan/Dingel letter was co-signed by a long list of J Street-sponsored politicians including: Don Beyer(D-VA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), André Carson (D-IN), Judy Chu (D-CA), Danny K. Davis (D-IL), Peter A. Defazio (D-OR), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), Chuy” García, Raúl Grijalva, Jared Huffman (D-CA), Pramila Jayapal (D-CA), Hank Johnson, Jr. (D-GA), Dan Kildee (D-MI), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Betty McCollum (D-MN), James P. McGovern (D-MA), Gwen S. Moore (D-WI), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Donald M. Payne Jr. (D-NJ), David E. Price (D-NC),Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Paul Tonko (D-NY), and Peter Welch (D-VT). Twenty-five of the 31 cosigners (81%) were endorsed by J Street.
J Street backs politicians that vote against Israel, as it is consistent with J Street’s priorities:
- Focus on providing money to Palestinians above anything else
- Support Iran, the leading state sponsor of terrorism which called for Israel’s destruction, to have a legal pathway to nuclear weapons
- Get anti-Israel resolutions passed at the United Nations Security Council
- Condemn Israeli actions regarding approving homes for Jewish families in Area C
- Endorse Ben & Jerry’s boycott of Israeli territories
J Street is spending over $10 million a year to promote its anti-Israel agenda on college campuses and the halls of congress and many millions of dollars more to get anti-Israel politicians elected. Its insidious lobbying is directly emboldening the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic communities.
Related First One Through articles:
The Root of Left-Wing Anti-Zionism in Congress is Left-Wing Jews
Socialists Employ Arabs’ Four Step Battle Plan
Re-destricting Will Bring More Anti-Israel Members of Congress
Peter Beinart is an Apologist for Anti-Semites
A Basic Lesson of How to be Supportive
The Fault in Our Tent: The Limit of Acceptable Speech
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