J Street is almost completely irrelevant as an organization, so perhaps it is better ignored entirely, but I'm fascinated by the speed with which it has collapsed in the face of a hot war in the Middle East -- the first since J Street launched last spring. It should have been obvious that a Jewish organization that places a higher priority on Israeli restraint than Israeli security would not thrive in a time of crisis, when Israel's friends -- Jew and Christian -- are most inclined to rally to her defense. Even candidates endorsed by J Street have responded to the current fighting with unequivocal statements in support of Israel's right to defend itself and the legitimacy of its current operation. As I wrote here earlier in the week, J Street's natural allies on the Jewish left have likewise denounced the group as "morally deficient, profoundly out of touch with Jewish sentiment and also appallingly naïve."
In short, J Street, like Hamas, has provoked a disproportionate response from the Jews. And like Hamas, J Street is blaming a Jewish conspiracy for its current troubles, a cabal apparently run out of the Israeli embassy in Washington:
The new organization's stance was not significantly different from statements by Americans for Peace Now, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom and the Israel Policy Forum. But several major Jewish leaders were so angered by the J Street statement that they made unsolicited calls to reporters to blast the group. When asked whether the calls were orchestrated, several sources said they believed the campaign was being mounted by major pro-Israel groups and by the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
Perhaps a Jewish organization under fire for its obsequiousness to terror and its hostility to Israel would be better served by refraining from the type of accusations more typically associated with Ron Paul, Stephen Walt and Pat Buchanan.
