J Street Debated in Two-Drink Minimum Knesset
This is too entertaining to be such a serious matter, wherein the Deputy Foreign Minister again sits at the center of political faux pas. The Knesset debated the performance of Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon in allegedly boycotting a delegation of five U.S. Congressmen organized by J Street and Churches for Middle East Peace.
The debate on the Knesset floor (full transcript below the fold!) features the singing of Hatikva; name calling between the Ayalon and the opposition; and buried in there some eloquent vouching for J Street by Meretz, Labor, and Kadima ministers.
Here are some compelling thoughts by Labor MK Einat Wilf:
I think it is important for Israel to have a clear policy about its interaction with [J Street]…while meanwhile not giving up on a big and important part of the Jewish people who want to find a way to maintain a relationship with Israel. We have to know how to bring near those who really want to be near and to draw the line for those who serve interests that are not our own.
And the drivel of a response by Shas MK Nissim Ze’ev:
It is a left-wing organization and it is supported by the Palestinians.
 But the gem of the whole conversation is Kadima MK Shlomo Mula:
Some people do not want the Reform movement. After all there are Orthodox people who don’t want the Reform. The next day you are going to say about the Conservatives, then you will say the right and the left. I suggest that we as the state of Israel that embraces the Jewish people, everyone who wants to come and help us, even when we have differences of opinion, it doesn’t matter how they come, you can clarify their positions when you sit down and talk to them, but not with boycotts.
Pressed, Ayalon finally clarifies:
Since you asked what is the policy of the Foreign Ministry towards J Street, I want to be clear about it. We will treat it exactly as we will treat any other Jewish organization in the US, period. There are organizations from the right, organizations from the left, organizations from the center, period.
