J Street has lined up more than a hundred members of the House and some 30 members of the Senate to serve on the host committee for its inaugural conference later this month. Among the few Republicans on the list was Rep. Mike Castle, who has already thrown his hat in the ring for the race to fill Delaware’s open Senate seat in 2010 and looks to be the early favorite. However, Castle’s name suddenly disappeared from that list this morning. Why? When I called Castle’s office, they confirmed that they had asked for Castle’s name to be removed from the list. I was also told that Castle was “totally unaware” that J Street had been using his name on their materials and that the decision to attach his name to the host committee was made at the “staff level.” “Someone was asked,” and because J Street billed itself as a “pro-Israel” organization, a Castle staffer “just said, oh sure, of course.” The Castle aide I spoke with was surprised to learn that one of the speakers at the J Street conference had blamed Israel for the 9/11 attacks in the days that followed. So the question is how many other members of the host committee are “totally unaware” that they’ve lent their names to J Street’s conference? How many other offices made this decision at the “staff level,” totally unaware that the group billing itself as pro-Israel was actually pro-engagement with Hamas and anti-sanctions on Iran? The number is likely substantial, and the number of Congressmen who distance themselves from this conference is, I’d bet, likely to grow.
