Jones Street

Published October 16, 2009 6:08pm ET



The anti-Israel organization J Street has been hemorraghing sponsors for its conference as Senators and Congressmen learned of its true agenda. Just in the last few hours, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Reps. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Leonard Boswell (D-IA), have asked to have their names removed from the host committee. So J Street has played its hole card: Obama national security advisor Jim Jones has accepted an invitation to participate. And we now have not just a squabble over J Street. We now have a “teachable moment” about the Obama White House. For one thing, J Street has been bitterly hostile to the democratically-elected government of Israel. That’s their right, just as the Zionist Organization of America had every right to be strongly critical of decisions by the Sharon government in 2005. But President Bush’s national security advisor didn’t speak to the annual meeting of ZOA. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s national security advisor probably wouldn’t speak to a group of birthers hanging out in Israel. In general, national security advisors tend not to speak to organizations that exist to criticize the government of a close ally. It will be interesting to see what Jones says about the Netanyahu government to the J Street crowd. Second, what will Jones say about his fellow honored speakers? For example, THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that among the speakers is Josh Healey, author of the following “poem“:

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