May 1, 2014 – New York, NY
CONTACT: Gideon Aronoff
347-583-7277
gideon@ameinu.net
www.ameinu.net
Jewish Community Umbrella Must Be Big Enough to Engage Progressive Pro-Israel Activists
“Yesterday marked a low point in the Jewish community’s effort to build a broad coalition of support for Israel,” declared Kenneth Bob, President of Ameinu. “We are deeply dismayed that the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (“Conference”) voted to bar J Street, the liberal “Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace” organization from membership.”
Ameinu, the largest grassroots progressive Zionist organization in North America, is a member of the Conference and a strong supporter of welcoming J Street into the umbrella body. For more than 100 years, Ameinu and its predecessors in the Labor Zionist Movement have worked to build a strong, secure and just State of Israel. “We have seen the inclusion of Jewish progressives, labor activists and others of the left in the pro-Israel coalition as a major asset to the global Zionist struggle for Israel,” Bob added.
“While the Conference followed its by-laws, which required J Street to obtain the support of 2/3 of the members, the impact of this decision goes far beyond simply one additional member of the Conference,” Bob noted. “Over the past six years J Street has built an impressive record of outreach and engagement with U.S. politicians, government and NGO leaders from across the spectrum in Israel, Jewish communities throughout this country and most importantly with Jewish students on 50 campuses. They are a vitally important voice for many in the Jewish community and deserve to be heard.”
“Ameinu is proud to have been part of a coalition in the Conference that supported J Street, and that represents the majority view of American Jews. We also continue to believe in the principle of uniting a diverse array of pro-Israel advocates under an umbrella, which is supposed to be the purpose of the Conference,” said Gideon Aronoff, Ameinu’s CEO. “Yesterday’s action is a victory of a particular ideology over inclusivity and calls into question if the Conference can truly serve its role for the Jewish community and Israel. Ameinu looks forward to conferring with colleagues in the Conference to develop a focused plan of action so that, for Israel’s sake, the voice of progressive Jews is not marginalized, but is a dynamic part of a vibrant American Jewish community debate,” Aronoff added.
