TIMES OF ISRAEL
Has J Street become US Jewry’s Democratic kingmaker on Israel?
Interview by Eric Cortellessa
February 21, 2020

…It’s not clear how many [Democratic candidates] will attend this year’s [AIPAC policy conference]; a source with the pro-Israel lobby said it was still “finalizing” its speakers for the confab and would be announcing them over the few days. Still, no other Israel-related gathering over the last year and a half has garnered as much attention from the 2020 Democrats. J Street, it appears, is playing an outsized role in setting the agenda on Middle East policy in this year’s Democratic primary. As [Jeremy] Ben-Ami explained in a recent interview with The Times of Israel, “We hold our conferences as a way to project political power.” READ MORE

THE HILL AIPAC hits back at Sanders over ‘odious’ criticism: ‘Truly shameful’ The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) fired back at Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday night after he said he would not attend the organization’s annual conference and accused it of providing a platform to leaders who “express bigotry and oppose Palestinian rights.” In a statement AIPAC posted to Twitter, the pro-Israel group said Sanders “has never attended our conference and that is evident from his outrageous comment.”

JNS More than 345 rabbis sign letter to frontrunner Sanders for harsh words on AIPAC “As strong supporters of the U.S.-Israel relationship and AIPAC’s role in advancing it, we reject Senator Bernie Sanders’ outrageous comment accusing AIPAC of fostering bigotry,” begins the letter.