Daniel Greenfield, not a big fan of Hatfield, notes that Hetfield has been receiving funding from “the radical anti-Israel organization, J Street. Mark Hetfield has been no stranger to attacking the Jewish State so the alliance with the anti-Israel group is a natural one.” He suggests that “J Street’s aggressive promotion of HIAS should give pause to any former backers of HIAS as to its agenda. J Street has been fundraising for HIAS. Why would it do that?”
Greenfield answers: “J Street’s agenda is to tilt America’s politics to be anti-Israel. And there’s more than one way to skin a cat. … Consider the political impact of dramatically increasing the number of Muslim settlers in America. Congressional districts would tilt. More terror supporters would end up in Congress. It’s the J Street agenda.”
Granted, the theory is bit reaching, but HIAS and J Street, two organizations that have worked their way in and out of the Jewish American consensus, make for powerful bedfellows. On the other hand, if anyone were to merge these two groups’ good works with the aspirations of many Arabs in post-1967 Israel and Gaza—to emigrate to the land where the streets are paved with gold—should they call Mark Hetfield or Jeremy Ben-Ami?