Responding to Critics, Detractors, Haters and Just Other Viewpoints - (July 18, 2025)
Analyzing and commenting on US-Israel related matters after almost 40 years as AIPAC's Director of Policy Analysis
Some of my posts from this past week (with links to what’s being responded to. Feel free to follow (and even repost) my work on “Twitter” (X) and on Substack/“Washington Views” -
My Substack Posts this week
Anti-Zionist Jews and Israel - Yesterday and Today
Antisemitism Without Israel - A Few Musings
The World's Jewish population today the same as a century ago - even as World population has Quadrupled
Responding to J Street’s Jeremy Ben-Ami re Antisemitism
Week’s HIGHLIGHTS” + A Few “ON THIS DAY” FLashbacks
Communal Letter to National Education Association President Becky Pringle (NOT signing on included J Street and New Jewish Narrative (J Street and APN)
J Street Responds to NEA Vote on Using ADL Materials and Participating in ADL Programs
The Forward/Jacob Kornbluh - Exclusive: J Street spurns ADL in teachers union fight, saying its approach ‘demeans the meaning of antisemitism’ - J Street’s move comes as progressives show increasing anger at the ADL’s uncompromising defense of Israel
”….Now, Ben-Ami says, he and Greenblatt are not on speaking terms…..“We’re not looking to pick an organizational food fight,” Ben-Ami said in an interview. “We just felt uncomfortable sending the signal that joining in this letter would have sent that the entirety of the Jewish community is united behind the approach that the ADL is taking.”
Jewish Insider - Jewish Voice for Peace restructures, sets its sights on the ballot box - After legal and structural changes, the anti-Israel group has switched its focus from protests and advocacy to organizing for and against candidates
”… The organization raised a record $11 million in revenue from July 2023 to June 2024, according to its latest tax filing, far outpacing previous figures…” I
JTA re changes at Jewish Voice for Peace
NIAC Statement on the Ten Year Anniversary of the Signing of the JCPOA
Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) - US: Investigate Israeli Settlers' Murder of U.S. Citizen Saif al-Din Musalat, Hold Perpetrators Accountable
CAIR-NY Calls Columbia University’s Adoption of IHRA Antisemitism Definition ‘An Attack on Free Speech’
ADL - Anti-Israel Demonstrations in London Feature Support for the Islamic Republic of Iran and its Terror Proxies
ADL Issues Joint Statement With Academic Engagement Network & Psychologists Against Antisemitism
SOME OF MY SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS THIS WEEK
Jul 15 Is “Fat shaming” the way to go? (Elicited a lot of responses!]
Who are "Jewish Voice for Peace" (JVP)'s contributors. Obviously @jvplive & @JVPAction are not required to name them; but they could! (Many think tanks list their big donors!) @NGOmonitor a couple of years ago "Jewish Voice for Peace’s Funding Network" https://ngo-monitor.org/reports/jewish
ws Or you could just put it more simply: The BDS movement works for the destruction of Israel. Not it's "just" Israel's exit from "The West Bank" or Gaza - Check out @BDSmovement https://bdsmovement.net
@WashingtonViews Comparing....How most of the "Mainstream" American Jewish organizations (from Left to Right) responded to the National Education Association action Vs @ADL"Communal Letter" and J Street @JStreetdotorg
Found it interesting that @jstreetdotorg and @NJNarrative (formerly APN-AMEINU) did NOT sign onto this joint letter to @NEAToday signed by Jewish groups across the spectrum - some of whom have had their own "differences" with @ADL (Don't know if weren't asked or chose not to)
4h They may call themselves progressive Zionists. Question is how important the issue is to them? And of course how do they actually view Mamdani. If they really believed he was deeply-hostile to Israel and its supporters; would they still be supporting him in a coalition.
Jul 15 I think focus only on what @ZohranKMamdani said or reposted etc. Not his father
nViews Wonder how many of the names they're reading aloud were Hamas terrorists...Bet those residents of Nijmegan never read aloud the names of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust - would take them years...Bet they never even read aloud the Dutch Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
Jul 15 Still waiting for when you and @CodePink start speaking out and protesting about abuses and horrors in countries about which you're so silent about. Even when you visit there
Jul 15 No need to denigrate other religions...."This absurd claim" ("...Muhammad’s claim, that he had flown overnight from Mecca to Jerusalem on the back of a flying donkey...") You can find in the texts of any religion things which "some might question" (and often do)
Jul 15 Once again @SenSanders re Israel
Jul 15 I'm sorry that hating Israel doesn't always pay off...
Jul 15 Think it's more people against "haters of Israel" rejoicing - and actually very-few of them are doing that.
Jul 16 Surely that just speaks more to the Professors at @Columbia rather than
@Columbia s decision re IHRA and Antisemitism.
7h Who are you to say "she represents...all Zionists?"
7h As so often is the case; @AmnestyUK is selective in its outrage
10h It's obviously "interesting." But why on earth is it an issue for @AmnestyUK ? Again. Amnesty International is (at least ostensibly) a Human Rights organization. I don't think that entails tax policy etc (regardless of views)
8h The Israel (and/or @Netanyahu) haters and "Blame Israel Firsters" won't appreciate this - Via @J_Insider 's @marcrod97 - "[Brett] "McGurk - History of Israel-Hamas talks is ‘being rewritten by people that weren’t involved’..." https://jewishinsider.com/2025/07/brett-
Jul 16 It's one thing for the United States to want to ensure "fair trials" are being held everywhere. But think if you believe in Israeli democracy; should be left to the Israeli Justice/Judicial system. Not try to get involved because you "like" @Netanyahu
Jul 16 AS I said elsewhere; regardless of how one views of @Netanyahu as @IsraeliPM regardless of how view the trial or his possible guilt or innocence; this is a matter best left to the Israeli Justice and Legal system. Israel is a democracy...
23h Would have more appropriate for @IsraeliPM have said “Thank You but no thank you!”
9h Sometimes of course there's what organizations do for their fundraising or to show their broader concerns... And then there's how staff time and resources are actually spent, which might be a little more "focused."
10h Take a closer look at the governments and policies of most if not all of those countries.
·
Jul 16 Although....Think the Druze weren't under such attack when Assad and the Alawites were ruling Syria.
Jul 16 Such a balanced piece in the @Guardian One voted for Mamdani. One voted for Lander! "What should Jewish New Yorkers make of Zohran Mamdani? Beth Miller and Jo-Ann Mort https://theguardian.com/commentisfree/
Jul 14 You really want to adopt the Trumpian approach of calling the press - "Corporate media" - "an enemy of the people?" Personally believe in a "Free Press."
Jul 14 As you of course very-well know it's in fact Antisemitism that is "Canary in the coal mine." And have to say that canary is not too-healthy...As anyone on social media can see. Those who engage in it. Those who tolerate it. Those who stay silent about. #Antisemitism
Jul 14 Busy tweeting...Of course @johncusack has been "focused" for quite a time. In 2019 JOhn Cusack reposted this. Then subsequently, after much criticism "apologized" https://bbc.com/news/entertain
ul 13 Time after time @ggreenwald - Very cavalier with your impugning peoples’ loyalties to the USA. “…the foreign country to which they are most loyal”
Jul 13 Tell that to the people of Argentina...This coming (July 18) marks the 31st Anniversary of the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMIA_bombing·
Jul 13 Would you perhaps like them to wear a yellow star?
ul 14 OR you COULD say: "Hamas' October 7th slaughter of 1,200 people along with kidnappings and rapes contributed to the Biden administration's electoral defeat in November and therefore the gutting of the State Dept...
·
Jul 16 Well that's certainly one possible explanation. Perhaps Israel with its own Druze population of Israel (and the Druze from pre-Six Day War Golan Heights) care more about the Druze than you do?
·ul 12 Of course that argument works both ways. Just because you're a Hamas supporting/Israel hater - Palestinian or otherwise, doesn't mean you're really helping or furthering the Palestinian cause...
Jul 12 You’ve regressed a long way @Tparsi these last few years. That or you’ve “revealed your true feelings” more since you left @NIACouncil for @QuincyInst
Jul 11 NIAC trying hard…! @Niacouncil e @IranIntl_En
Jul 12 Plus after that terrible day; people would find another reason - actually all kinds of reasons - to "focus" on the Jews.
l 12 Not sure how @BernieSanders can say "AIPAC - an organization that also helped deliver the presidency to Donald Trump" As for @Brhodes ..! Doesn't seem to want @AIPAC (and its many Democratic-voting members and contributors?)...
Jul 11 "Haters" Protesting AIPAC in Chicago yesterday (Thursday)
Jul 11 Congresswoman @IlhanMN to @AIPAC "Get lost...." Very classy...
Jul 11 But we're not talking about "asking every Muslim." Surely it's reasonable to ask the man who actually said "Globalize the Intifada."
Jul 11 I don't think that's generally the case. Obviously there are always going to be a few perhaps saying that. But there are more than enough examples of antisemitism on the left. And if someone posts "Wipe Israel Off The Map" & calls Israelis "Demons" why argue whether this or that?
Jul 12 Acting against something is scarcely a "Sign of guilt" - That's a ridiculous assertion by @FranceskAlbs as I'm sure you're aware. If you applied that logic to anything else
Jul 12 Disgusting But again can’t hold @ZohranKMamdani accountable for what his father wrote…
Jul 13 Tell that to the people of Argentina...This coming (July 18) marks the 31st Anniversary of the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMIA_bombing
1h Some people who were Jewish may have said very-nasty things to you (I haven't seen what was said); but to turn that into a blanket "JEWS"... "Jews, too, can exhibit nasty, despicable, blind hate towards non-Jews and people they think are not Jewish..." That's a little problematic
3h Polemical and incendiary words @KenRoth "Israel brazenly thumbs it noses at Pope Leon by bombing the Catholic Church in Gaza." I'm sure you've seen the Israeli apology even if didn't repost it
2h AIPAC continuing with its "critique" of J Street
X Interesting wording "the dirty work of Lawyers for Israel" @DaleVince
ul 17 Big man: Focus on the Chief Rabbi!
A FEW OF THIS WEEK’S “ON THIS DAY FLASHBACKS
#OnThisDay (July 18): A good day for expressing hatred of Jews - 1290: King Edward's "Edict of Expulsion" of Jews from England (for 350+ years)…1925: Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" published...1994: AMIA Bombing + 1947: British forces board "Exodus 1947" with 4,500 Jewish refugees
Jul 17 Flashback 25 Years..#OnThisDay in 2000 at the time of the (ultimately-failed) Barak-Arafat-Clinton Camp David Summit, @JTANews piece speculating @AIPAC 's action "Would U.S. Jewry Lobby Hard for an Israeli-Palestinian Deal? https://jta.org/2000/07/17/lifestyle/would-u-s-jews-lobby-for-a-peace-deal-3
#OnThisDay in 1938: The week-long Evian Conference came to a close - with no resolution re Jewish refugees of Germany and beyond (and "Palestine" sealed off by British) - https://wwv.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%206305.pdf
Jul 14 Zionism Flashback....From 1931: The World Zionism Congress "Defining Ultimate Aims of Zionism..."
Jul 16 Always find such photos of The Wall remarkable. Especially when recall - just behind the worshippers - were the buildings cutting of the Wall ("removed" after Israel unified Jerusalem in 1967). Talking of the Wall - These JTA reports from "#OTD" in 1930
ul 14 #OnThisDay in 1099 (July 14/15): Crusaders capture Jerusalem and slaughter Jewish and Muslim inhabitants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_%281099%29 .. #Jerusalem#Crusades#SiegeOfJerusalem
Jul 14 And then the longer @AIPAC "AIPAC Statement on Proposed Iran Nuclear Agreement" #OnThisDay in 2015 #USIran #JCPOA #IranNuclear·
Jul 14 Decade Flashback... @AIPAC s initial statement #OnThisDay in 2015 after President Obama had announced the US-Iran Nuclear Deal #Iran #AIPAC #USIran #JCPOA @POTUS44
ul 14 Decade Flashback: #OnThisDay in 2015: President @BarackObama @Potus44 announced the US-Iran Nuclear Deal https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/07/14/statement-president-iran
Jul 13 Flashback 3 Years today....#OnThisDay in 2022: Then President Joe Biden arrived in Israel
Jul 13 #OnThisDay in 1992: Yitzhak Rabin takes office as Israel's new Prime Minister (and also Defense Minister) succeeding Yitzhak Shamir. (Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister)
ul 14 #OnThisDay in 1099 (July 14/15): Crusaders capture Jerusalem and slaughter Jewish and Muslim inhabitants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_%281099%29 .. #Jerusalem#Crusades#SiegeOfJerusalem
Jul 14 #OnThisDay in 1923: Until-recently British Prime Minister (1916-1922 & PM at time of Balfour Declaration) #LloydGeorge on Jews, Antisemitism and Zionism @JTANews ..."[David] Lloyd George Defends Vigorously Jews and Zionism" (Decade later, praising Hitler!) #Antisemitism #Zionism
nViews Jul 12 Flashback 20 years today...#OnThisDay in 2005: A Palestinian suicide bomber kills 5 Israeli by the HaSharon Mall in Netanya, Israel https://gov.il/en/pages/suicide-bombing-at-netanya-shopping-mall-12-jul-2005
#OnThisDay in 1953 @JTANews reporting "Israel Foreign Ministry Starts Functioning Today in Jerusalem ...The Foreign Ministry was the last major department of the government to remain behind in Tel Aviv. Its transfer to Jerusalem will be effected today..." #Israel #Jerusalem
9h Another example...#OnThisDay in 1939: The English writer, J.B. Priestly on Antisemitism in (eve of World War II) England (Britain) - although even here, element of "victim blaming" @JTANews #JBPriestly #Jews #Antisemitism
Jul 12 90 years ago today....#OnThisDay in 1935: Alfred Dreyfus dies in Paris aged 75 https://jta.org/archive/col-dreyfus-dies-in-paris-at-age-of-75
Jul 12 Flashback 4 Years...#OnThisDay in 2021: @AIPAC announce (confirm) no #AIPAC Policy Conference in 2022 - "Announcement regarding AIPAC Policy Conference 2022..."
4h Flashback 5 Years...#OnThisDay in 2020: @AIPAC mourned the death of Congressman John Lewis at age 80 "AIPAC Statement on the Passing of Congressman John Lewis"
Shabbat Shalom!