Washington - A new Jewish lobby that claims to be supportive of Israel has been linked to Qatar.A former Israeli diplomat has asserted that J Street has been connected to Qatar through the U.S. public relations firm of Fenton Communications.
Lenny Ben-David, a former diplomat and now consultant, said J Street founder Jeremy Ben-Ami, a senior vice president at Fenton until the lobby's establishment in 2008, could have been involved in a March 2009 project by Qatar to undermine support for Israel in the United States.
Ben-David said J Street's 160-member advisory board included those listed as foreign agents for Egypt and Saudi Arabia. His letter also cited J Street's ties with U.S. billionaire George Soros, said to have long sought to undermine the traditional pro-Israel lobby in Washington.From Ben-David's open letter to Ben-Ami: "So, it appears that Soros has created an organization that competes with AIPAC, calls for inclusion of Hamas, and opposes sanctions against Iran," Ben-David said. "His people sit on J Street's board, and his other offspring from the New America Foundation and the National Iranian American Council, work in lockstep." Read full article at the World Tribune
Conference-attendee Roberta Seid explains why J-Street is bad for Israel to JPost's Shmuel Rosner.
