Jeremy Ben-Ami founded J Street 16 years ago on the ideals of a pro-Israel, pro-peace and pro-democracy. Ben-Ami is bringing those messages, and much more, to Mount Zion Temple in St. Paul on Sept. 12 for his first Twin Cities visit in a few years. The event is free and registration is available online.
Before Ben-Ami comes to town, he spoke with TC Jewfolk about the timing of the visit to the Twin Cities, what he hopes to convey, and how his organization fits into the larger piece of Jewish/Israeli advocacy. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
TC Jewfolk: Why come to Minnesota now?
Jeremy Ben-Ami: I certainly don’t want to it to look like I’m pandering because of the choice of the VP nominee, since this date was locked in well before Tim Walz was even a consideration. You know, we do have chapters and activists all over the country, and I do try to get around and make it to as many cities and chapters as I possibly can. It’s been a little while since I was in the Twin Cities and I’m really excited about coming back.
TCJ: There’s so much going on both domestically/politically, and obviously, what’s going on in Israel. How do you see our place in the in the world right now?
JBA: Take a step back and look at this in the context of history. This is a very consequential moment; The two largest Jewish populations in the world are in the United States and in Israel, and in 2024 both communities, really, are at important pivot points. I think the Jewish-Americans are looking at two very different futures depending on the direction the country goes in, if this country goes in a direction that chooses to side with a lower-case D non-democrat – an autocrat who doesn’t believe in the rule of law, doesn’t believe in the protections that have allowed the Jewish community here to really blossom and achieve its full potential. It’s through a combination of being able to get into this country and then having the freedom and the opportunity to pursue what we wanted to pursue, and to break through the barriers because of the protections of the rule of law. You know, that’s what’s allowed us to have the most amazing Jewish community, perhaps in Jewish history here. Similarly, Jews in Israel are facing a real fork in the road for the future of that country as well. And you know, is it going to be in a situation where it’s controlled by a government that, again, is tearing apart its democracy and doesn’t believe that there should be a permanent political resolution with the Palestinian people and is going to pursue war and live by the sword for the rest of its existence. These are really important forks in the road for both communities and 2024 is a real year of consequence.
TCJ: Where do you see J Street’s place in this conversation?
JBA: J Street is relatively new; we’ve only been around for 16 years, and groups like AIPAC have been around for 60 years, and other well-known, mainstream organizations, have been around for 100 plus years. J treet is a new kid on the block. I think in the 21st century, we are emerging more and more as the mainstream voice of the American Jewish community when it comes to Israel, because I think the old guard institutions and some of the old, more established organizations have a very sort of older mindset about how to support Israel, and that tends to be to support Israel without questioning what its leadership is doing to support Israel, right or wrong, to try to limit dissent and where there is dissent, to try to shut it down. And that’s not J Street’s approach. Our approach is actually to recognize that there are a wide range of opinions when it comes to Israel within the Jewish community. We want to foster an open discussion and open dialog. We recognize you can love Israel without having to agree with this awful government that it has, and being able to call out the mistakes that it’s making, and try to articulate a different path that Israel could go down.
TCJ: How do you get that argument across in a nuanced way. Because I think most people lose that?
JBA: I do think that the fact that there is a very loud and vocal, un-nuanced anti-Israel crowd these days makes it that much easier, actually, to define the middle ground. it is very, very clear that there are a lot of folks who were in those encampments and who were in the pro-Palestinian movement who lack any sense of nuance whatsoever. But I think 80 plus percent of Jewish Americans understand that Palestinians have rights, and you know, they, too, are human beings. And we can have empathy for the fact that civilians are being trapped between a terrorist death cult of Hamas and a right-wing Israeli government that’s showing no mercy. That nuance, that ability to find the middle, does speak to the overwhelming majority of Jewish Americans.
TCJ: It feels like not many people see it that way. There’s that perspective, but then there’s a wedge that cleaves the two groups apart into their corners.
JBA: I still maintain that the vast plurality of the 6-plus million Jewish Americans actually hold relatively moderate, nuanced, middle-of-the-road views on these things. It is true that there are a lot of people who are drawn towards the extremes, and some of the younger members of the Jewish community become very, very vocal in their anti-Israel advocacy and want to be accepted into those protest encampments. And there’s an equally charged reaction from some of the folks on the right who just hear criticism of Israel and automatically deem it antisemitism. But that really doesn’t speak for a very large number of people, and that’s what J Street’s effort is.
TCJ: So how do you hold that place in the middle without getting drowned out by the extremes?
JBA: You have to build. You have to build slowly. You know, the extremes do tend to get more passion. They get more money. But I look at, for instance, Congress, which is where J Street does a lot of its work. We started 16 years ago, and we had relationships, maybe with a dozen or two dozen members of Congress at that point, and I think we had 17 endorsed members of Congress. Today, we have 170 sitting members of the House and the Senate who are endorsed by J Street. And so one by one by one, we have built up those relationships and people who are actually in decision-making positions and positions of power.
TCJ: What are you hoping to convey when you do visits like the one in St. Paul?
JBA: I think that there’s an energizing message, which is: We’ve got a really, really important election in just nine weeks, and everybody’s got to be all in. You want to get people to feel activated, and motivated, and understand what the stakes are of the moment. Part of it is outreach to audiences and people who maybe have heard a little bit about what we’re doing and would like to get more of those people to overcome any hesitancy and learn a little bit more about us and potentially join us. And you know, people always want hope. That’s the final piece. Is there a way out of all of this mess? And without question, I see a path to a far better future. But, you know, it doesn’t just happen. Hope is built. Hope is created. You know, you need an active verb to produce that hope, and that’s what we have to be. We have to be the change, right? We have to be the hope. We have to bring it about. And so it’s an energizing and engaging and mobilizing message that I try to bring to communities so that we can continue to build a better future.
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