Dovish Jewish lobby endorses seven candidates

A couple of weeks ago, in a dialogue we had here, Jeremy Ben-Ami of the new Jewish dovish lobby J Street, laid out the criteria he will follow when the time comes to endorse political candidates.

Well, the time has come.

J Street, a lobby that aims to be an alternative to AIPAC, announced today that the following candidates will receive funding from J Street:

1. Rep. Charles Boustany (LA). Boustany showed some activism recently with the letter to Condoleezza Rice in which he was urging greater U.S. funding for Palestinian Authority reforms. He says he wants "vigorous diplomacy" and is happy to join a "coalition for a sensible diplomatic approach". With Boustany one question was solved: yes, J Street will endorse Republicans (the other 6 are Democrats).

2. Darcy Burner (WA), the former Microsoft executive. Interestingly some leftist bloggers were already disappointed by Burner's support of a safe and Jewish Israel.

3. Rep. Steve Cohen (TN). Cohen has been recently quoted as saying that Israel is a "wonderful nation". So now we know where he stands.

4. Dona Edwards (MD). Edwards is also supported by The Nation (not that there?s anything wrong with it) and by Steve Clemons (who also supports Darcy. It?s a small world, you know).

5. Debbie Halvorston (IL). Halvorston can win, and so can some of the other candidates J Street supports. My guess is that five or six of the seven candidates will make it.

6. Mary Jo-Kilroy (OH). When I was in Ohio, I wrote about the 2006 race, including the one between Kilroy and Pryce. Deborah Pryce, who?s not running again against Kilroy, was a great friend to Israel (in the old sense).

7. (Rabbi) Dennis Shulman (NJ). Shulman is the surprise name on this list. True, he opposes the war in Iraq and supports negotiations with Iran. But does he really want this dovish tag? And besides, look what he said about Carter's meeting with Hamas: "As a Democrat and a proud supporter of Israel, I am deeply disturbed by President Carter?s decision to treat terrorist leaders like Khaled Meshal as if they are dignitaries. I support efforts to promote peace, but I see no signs that elevating Hamas before it renounces terrorism and its opposition to the very existence of Israel will help bring about peace."

To sum it up, this seems to be the mix J Street was looking for, including Democrats and a Republican, Jews and non-Jews, southerners and northerners, progressive and moderate. When the list was first announced on a conference call, Ben-Ami was sure to remind the listeners that J Street is a "pro Israel" organization (and as you might recall, I think that this term has lost its meaning ). With such a list, J Street will indeed be able to claim the mantle of a mainstream organization.

But let me tell you this: some candidates of this list are likely to make J Street take more extreme views in the future. My bet (after consulting with some knowledgeable friends) is that the lobby will choose either Kilroy or Edwards, or perhaps even both.