Steve Rosen, a former AIPAC foreign policy chief who now trains Europeans in pro-Israel advocacy, said the Democratic Party’s rank and file is likelier to question Israel than it has in the past.
“What’s striking is how many of the shtarkers of the Democratic Party are leaving,” Rosen said, using the Yiddish term for big shot, “and people coming in have weaker ties and have been subject to a propaganda effort by the Jewish left which has presented to them a set of ideas that are outside the Israeli mainstream.”
Rosen cited the influence of J Street and journalist Peter Beinart, who argues that Israeli policies have alienated young American Jews.
J Street itself claimed the congressional election results were a “victory,” noting that of 71 congressional candidates backed by J Street’s political action committee, 70 won – all of them Democrats.
Rosen, however, questioned the extent of J Street’s victory. He pointed out in an article for Foreign Policy magazine that most of the candidates backed by J Street also were supported by political action committees and individuals aligned with AIPAC.
(JTA)
