ADL will vote to admit J Street to Conference of Presidents

Abe Foxman cites the need ‘to ensure the integrity and credibility of American Jewish advocacy’

BY RON KAMPEAS April 30, 2014, 4:36 am

TA — “There is more tolerance for dissent in Israel than in the Jewish community,” Abraham Foxman told me yesterday at the Anti-Defamation League’s annual Washington conference.

That’s one reason the ADL’s national director gave for why it makes sense for J Street to be admitted to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

“We will support the admission of J Street not because we agree with them, not because we support their views, but in order to ensure the integrity and credibility of American Jewish advocacy and of the Conference of Presidents,” he said.

The ADL nod swells mainstream, centrist support for the admission into the community’s foreign policy umbrella of J Street, a group that calls itself “pro-Israel, pro-peace” and is often critical of Israeli government policy.

Backers of J Street’s admission say they have reached “critical mass” for J Street’s entry — 34 of the conference’s 51 members.

Also favoring entry in the secret ballot that may take place Wednesday afternoon are the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the community’s domestic policy umbrella; the Union for Reform Judaism, and the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly. “The RA will be voting affirmatively for J Street to become a member of the COP,” its executive vice president, Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, told me in an email.

I understand that the Jewish Federations of North America also likely will vote in favor.

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