Once a “pro-peace” Israel lobby alternative, J Street is pushing a hawkish resolution on Israel that ignores Palestinian civilians.
On Tuesday, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Ranking Member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., introduced a resolution pledging Congress would stand “with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists.” Nearly every member of Congress announced their support for the resolution — with the exception of 13 Democrats.
The resolution, however, does not mention Palestinian civilians, who face an ongoing siege of medieval proportions — with Israeli forces cutting off access to food, water, and electricity — and calls for further restricting and scrutinizing imports because of Hamas’s use of bulldozers and other rudimentary equipment to break down the border fence with Israel.
The lack of any attempt in the resolution to urge Israel to avoid civilian casualties, as the Palestinian territory stares down an apocalyptic and ongoing massacre, has led to a small pocket of resistance to the resolution among a handful of Democrats.
The liberal organization J Street is working to break down that resistance. J Street, which dubs itself both “pro-preace and pro-Israel,” often serves as a counterweight to the more hawkish American Israel Public Affairs Committee. On this resolution, however, there’s no daylight between the two.
J Street has been warning Democrats that if they don’t sponsor the McCaul–Meeks resolution, they will lose the group’s endorsement come reelection time, according to sources familiar with the position J Street has been relaying to members of Congress.
Asked for comment, J Street confirmed it has made the resolution a priority, providing a statement from Kevin Rachlin, vice president of government affairs:
An important part of being in political partnership is ensuring that one’s core values are shared — especially in moments of crisis. We have been reaching out to all of our endorsed candidates to let them know that for J Street, a pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy organization, signing on to the broad-based congressional resolution that condemns Hamas, and states support for the State and people of Israel, is a deeply important affirmation of one of our core values. We are urging our endorsed candidates and all Members of Congress to vote yes on this resolution if and when it is brought to a vote.
While the resolution has yet to officially pass, Israel has been buoyed by the United States’s continual assurance of unwavering support. On Thursday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin remarked that American military aid would remain unconditional, though President Joe Biden, in his more recent remarks, made an aboutface, and has begun to insist that civilian lives be protected in Gaza. On a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, Biden said that “it is really important that Israel, with all the anger and frustration … that exists, is that they operate by the rules of war.” The resolution J Street insists all Democrats support does not include the type of admonition now being made by Biden himself.
On the Hill, Democratic leadership has declined to defend members who’ve urged a ceasefire — among them the holdouts from the McCaul-Meeks resolution — when they have come under attack.
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He has been a staff reporter for Politico and the Washington City Paper and is a co-host of the show Counter Points. He is the author of the books “We’ve Got People” (2019) and “This Is Your Country on Drugs” (2009). His third book, published in December 2023, is “The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution.”
