The political and political system criticizes the meeting between the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and the heads of the American Jewish lobby, J. Street.
The meeting took place yesterday (Monday) in the Knesset.
It was attended by senior members of the US House of Representatives, who initiated their tour of Israel.
On the American side, J Street President and Founder Jeremy Ben-Ami, activists and members of the House of Representatives Rosa Di Loro, Chair of the House of Commons (Connecticut) Allocations Committee, Barbara Lee (California), and Jamal Bauman ( New York), Mark Foucault (Wisconsin), Mondier Jones (New York) and Melanie Stansbury (New Mexico).
This morning, I had a warm and friendly meeting with the Governor of Arkansas, @AsaHutchinson.
I thanked the Governor for his many years of strong support for Israel, and we discussed ways to further strengthen ties between Israel and Arkansas, particularly in innovation.
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- Yair Lapidđźź (@yairlapid) November 8, 2021
Nadav Tamir, CEO of J Street Israel, confirmed that this is the first time such a high-ranking official has met with the heads of the lobby. "The ministers' support for meeting with members of Congress, some of whom are critical of parts of Israeli policy, shows the importance that the Israeli government sees in strengthening the dialogue with the Democratic Party, which was neglected during Netanyahu's tenure," Tamir said.
To date, Israel has refrained from senior-level meetings with J Street leaders, according to the position of the professional echelon in the State Department, because the lobby works against Israel's policy on a wide range of issues. A source in the political system told "Israel Today" that J Street is the only lobby that defines itself as "pro-Israel", but actively opposes government policy. "To finance the Iron Dome. When other lobbies do not agree with Israel on a particular issue, they simply remain silent and do not take a stand. They are the only ones who oppose it. Therefore, meetings with them have been low-level until today."
This evening at the Knesset, I met with a delegation of Democratic members of Congress.
I thanked them for supporting the replenishment of the Iron Dome missile defense system, and we discussed the importance of continuing to strengthen the US-Israel relationship.
🇮🇱🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/DBiJI8gDcL
- Yair Lapidđźź (@yairlapid) November 8, 2021
Member of Knesset Dr. Shlomo Qarai from the Likud, said in response to the meeting that "the extreme left-wing government continues to strengthen our enemies at the expense of our lovers. J Street has proven time and time again that there is nothing between it and the good of the State of Israel. On the contrary, whenever she was faced with the choice of whether to side with Israel or with our enemies, she chose the worst of our enemies. This too, like the dangerous political process, is in the hands of Bennett and Shaked, Saar and Elkin, and with their full backing. This is the same Bennett who previously praised Robbie Rivlin for refusing to meet them. No one has boundaries. The public will make sure that they pay the price of abandonment and turning their backs on the State of Israel in the upcoming elections. "
The chairman of the Likud faction and the center of the opposition, MK Yariv Levin, commented on a meeting held by Minister Lapid and responded: "And that his people supported the dangerous nuclear deal with Iran, proves once again, for the umpteenth time - this is not a ten-degree government on the right. It is a 180-degree government on the left."
It should be noted that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met last night with the delegation of members of Congress that J Street brought to Israel, but his office refused to include the representatives of the lobby for the meeting.
J Street has personally attacked Bennett in the past and has a rich record of harming fundamental Israeli interests.
Among other things, she objected to the Abrahamic agreements, called on the Obama administration to take action against Israel, refused to participate in pro-Israel demonstrations in the United States, welcomed the Goldstone report and supported the opening of the American Consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem.
The Lapid bureau said: "The foreign minister met with a delegation of important members of Congress. The minister's policy is to meet and talk to anyone who has influence and try to convince him of the righteousness of Israel's path."