Senior government officials met with members of the J Street Lobby yesterday (Monday).
The Jewish-American left group has been boycotted by Israel since its establishment in 2008.
A delegation of Democratic congressmen who arrived in Israel as part of a tour of the pro-Israel lobby met yesterday in the Knesset with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ir Lapid (Yesh Atid, with Transport Minister Merav Michaeli (Labor) and with Minister of Regional Cooperation Issawi Frij (Meretz).
The members of the delegation also met with Minister of Internal Security Amar Bar-Lev (Labor), Minister of Environmental Protection Tamar Zandberg (Meretz), Deputy Defense Minister Alon Schuster (Blue and White) and Deputy Minister of Economy Yair Golan (Meretz).
Members of the delegation are also expected to meet with Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Eshtiya.
At the time, J Street supported the nuclear deal with Iran, called for a reduction in security assistance to Israel, and supported measures against it because of the government's right-wing policies.
In a delegation of members J Street President and Founder Jeremy Ben-Ami, activists of the organization and members of the House of Representatives Rosa di Loro, Chairman of the House Committee on Commitments (Connecticut), Barbara Lee (California), Jamal Bauman (New York) , Mark Foucault (Wisconsin), Mondier Jones (New York) and Melanie Stansbury (New Mexico).
Nadav Tamir, CEO of J Street Israel: "The meetings between the government ministers and the members of Congress are another expression of the important connection between the Democratic Party and the State of Israel.
The rise of ministers to meet with members of Congress, some of whom are critical of parts of Israeli policy, shows the importance the Israeli government sees in strengthening the dialogue with the Democratic Party, which has been neglected throughout Netanyahu's tenure.
Minister Issawi Fridge and representatives of the J Street delegation, Photo: Tal Shahar
Minister Michaeli in a meeting with representatives of the J Street lobby,
"The purpose of the delegation is to produce a better understanding of members and members of Congress of what is happening here and a better acquaintance between members of Congress and decision makers in Israel. The meetings were all in good spirits and understanding that even when criticized, it comes from friends.
Later this week, members of the Congress will hold a series of tours and meetings in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem in the Palestinian Authority, as well as in Jewish localities in Judea and Samaria and in Palestinian localities in Area C.