National Security Adviser James Jones will keynote the J Street conference later this month. Here’s the brief:
U.S. National Security Advisor James Jones will be a keynote speaker at the first J Street national conference.
Jones will represent the Obama administration at the organization’s first conference, which will be held Oct. 25-28 in Washington. He spoke Thursday night at the American Task Force for Palestine gala.
Other major figures slated to speak at the J Street event include several former top Israeli officials, the former Nebraska Republican Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), and Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union of Reform Judaism.
J Street has also made a public push to convince Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, to attend. The Israeli Embassy has not responded, but a spokesman has said some of J Street’s positions could "impair Israel’s interests."
The organization, which dubs itself "pro-Israel, pro-peace," favors U.S. pressure on Israel and the Palestinians in pursuit of a two-state solution. J Street also criticized Israel’s invasion of Gaza and declined to put the blame for the confrontation on Hamas; the organization broke with most national Jewish organizations on the issue of Iran, saying now was not the right time to pass touger sanctions.
