Knesset J Street Hearing Criticized

Washington (JTA) -- Two major American Jewish groups said Knesset hearings on J Street were inappropriate.

The Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs met March 23 to discuss if the group is anti-Israel.

"In holding hearings on whether a voluntary American Jewish organization is indeed a pro-Israel lobby, the Knesset committee has interfered in an entirely inappropriate way in the internal affairs of the American Jewish community," the American Jewish Committee said in a March 24 statement.

"Do not reject the American Jews who support the State of Israel, just because they do not agree with the policy of this government or another," J Street chairman Davidi Gilo told the lawmakers. "Those who impose upon us tests and hurdles -- who is sufficiently Jewish for them, who is sufficiently loyal and who is sufficiently pro-Israeli in their view -- are endangering the unity of the Jewish people."

Othniel Schneller, a lawmaker with the opposition Kadima Party, said J Street was presumptuous in describing itself as pro-Israel: "You are not Zionists, and you do not care about Israel. Only here in Israel do we determine Israeli democracy, and you cannot determine what Israel's interests are."

Other lawmakers spoke in support of J Street. "These are serious people, people who care about Israel, not people who have abandoned Israel, and it is important to engage in a dialogue with them, not to boycott them," said Rabbi Michael Melchior of the Labor Party.