Regarding Linda Gradstein’s “Congressional Mission, J Street-Style” (Feb. 24): I was extremely impressed and heartened to learn that J Street took members of Congress on a trip to Israel that demonstrated the reality of Israeli society, good and bad. The United States is Israel’s No. 1 ally, and it’s critical that American lawmakers understand life on the ground by speaking to real Israeli and Palestinian people.
Gradstein’s description of the organization, however, is misleading: J Street is a centrist organization, representing the view of the majority of American Jews that the U.S. should play a strong leadership role in bringing about the two-state solution. It is defined by what it supports — two states based on 1967 borders with appropriate land swaps, a deal that will strengthen Israel as a Jewish democracy and fulfill Palestinians’ right to an independent state — not by what it opposes.
