Aaron Rice

J Street Leader

[Aaron Rice @NewmanChicago]

Laws adopted thru democratic means can be assault on democracy. See new voting rights laws in many US states. #fact https://t.co/MzoLR5JHy3

[Dylan Williams @dylanotes]

Please do not claim to represent the American Jewish community as you warmly embrace and give support to a wanted war criminal actively committing crimes against humanity.

His actions are an affront to the values of millions of Jewish Americans and have endangered our community.

[Jason Benetti @jasonbenetti]

The world lost one of the most hilarious, joyful, thoughtful guys out there.

There’s way too much hot sauce in heaven today.

[J Street @jstreetdotorg]

At a recent debate against Bret Stephens, J Street President @JeremyBenAmi reflected on what Jewish values require of us: That a Jewish state should treat Palestinians with dignity, humanity and justice – especially because of our own history.

“We shouldn’t be doing to another people the kinds of things that were done to us.”

[Chris Menahan 🇺🇸 @infolibnews]

"I'm always going to vote for whatever Israel needs—military, financial, or intelligence," Sen. Fetterman tells the American Jewish Committee.

"It's a miracle and a paragon of democracy, and the kind of values that we live here in our nation."

AJC CEO Ted Deutch gawks at him like a circus act.

[NBA History @NBAHistory]

On this day in 1997...

MJ's buzzer-beater capped the Bulls’ thrilling win in Game 1 of the 1997 NBA Finals!

Jordan: 31 PTS (19 in 2H), 8 AST
Pippen: 27 PTS, 9 REB, 3 STL, 4 BLK

[Acyn @Acyn]

Ossoff: This is what small men like Donald Trump and JD Vance and Stephen Miller will never understand—that our national greatness flows not through our blood or our genes, but through our ideas.

Americans are not a race, we're a people united not by ethnicity, but by our shared convictions, and that is what makes us exceptional

[Mickey Gitzin @MickeyGitzin]

Many people told me I was wrong. I wish I were. Beyond the Kahanist ministers, Smotrich himself was honored at this event under the banner of the New York Jewish community. This is the same minister who called for segregating Jewish and Arab mothers in maternity wards, advocated starving Gaza, and is now driving the settler violence campaign in the West Bank. At this point, there are no more questions. The facts are right in front of us. The only question is whether we are prepared to confront them.

[Mickey Gitzin @MickeyGitzin]

Parts of the Jewish community in New York are very busy criticizing the mayor for not attending the Israel Parade. They seem far less concerned that the parade will be led by Kahanist ministers. The moment the Jewish community, not the State of Israel, chooses to place Kahanist leaders at the front of its flagship parade, it makes their face the face of the community. That is a dangerous and deeply misguided choice.

[Acyn @Acyn]

Ossoff: He’s trying to put his face on the money. He's building a monument to himself . But see, Atlanta, he's doing these things now because no one will honor him when he’s gone… because he's a failed president and a national disgrace.

[Tom Nichols @RadioFreeTom]

In other words, the war is over, we're stumbling toward some version of the JCPOA, America is out billions of dollars and lots of weapons that we didn't need to waste, and the United States is now weaker and Iran in a strategically stronger position.
And for what?

[Dylan Williams @dylanotes]

Sad to see infighting among those who trashed the 2015 deal blocking Iran from ever getting nuclear weapons.

Sure, we warned you exactly what would happen if you broke it, imposed sanctions & got dog-walked by Netanyahu into bombing.

But can’t all you warmongers just get along?

[Ned Price @nedprice]

When this war ends with enormous and lasting costs and little to show for it, we should do something we haven’t done in a quarter century: collectively hold accountable those who pushed it in the first place. From Washington’s prolific Iran war lobby to my former colleagues who sane-washed it, their voices should no longer be allowed to dominate the conversation as they have for two decades. Their discrediting may be virtually all we have to show for this disastrous decision.

[Ben Rhodes @brhodes]

This guy helps create a global catastrophe and then notices that his dumb policy has left Iran stronger. So of course what's needed is even more war.

[Roei Eisenberg רואי איזנברג @roeiwrites]

did anyone see if the ADL put out a statement condemning the ambassador who said some Jews were a cancer

[Lt. Col. (R) Peter Lerner @LTCPeterLerner]

I’m an Israeli. I served my country, defended it, represented it, and continue to fight for its future because I love it deeply.

And precisely because of that, I find the attacks on @jstreetdotorg so disturbing.

You don’t have to agree with every statement or policy position to recognize that J Street is part of the Jewish and Zionist conversation. Many of the people involved care deeply about Israel, its security, and its future as both a Jewish and democratic state.

What troubles me most is this growing idea that only one kind of Jew, one kind of Zionist, or one kind of supporter of Israel is legitimate. That anyone who asks difficult questions, speaks about democracy, human rights, or the moral direction of our country is somehow an enemy.

I reject that completely.

Israel was never meant to be a place of enforced political conformity. The strength of our society has always come from argument, diversity, and the courage to challenge ourselves, especially in difficult times.

@yechielleiter comments don’t protect Israel. They shrink it. They push away people who still choose, every single day, to stand with Israel even when it’s hard.

As a liberal Israeli, I will always defend our right to disagree with one another without erasing one another.

[Ilan Goldenberg @ilangoldenberg]

I spent the first 10 months of the Gaza war at the White House working on the response, then joined the 2024 campaign leading Jewish outreach. I spent nearly every day on the campaign talking to voters about Gaza. I don't have any data, but based on my experience a few thoughts on the autopsy and the role Gaza played in the election:

1. Anyone saying Gaza had NOTHING to do with the outcome is wrong. It clearly hurt enthusiasm and support among parts of the Democratic base.

2. Anyone saying it was THE reason is also wrong. The economy, the shortened campaign, and the inability to compete in many of the low-propensity voter spaces Trump dominated were all critical factors.

3. Most importantly: this was never fundamentally a MESSAGING problem. It was a POLICY problem. There was too much trauma, anger, and grief across different communities for there to be some magic set of words Harris could have used to make it go away.

The only thing that might have changed the politics was actually ending the war through a ceasefire. I’ve said elsewhere what I think the administration could have done differently -- taking a harder line with Netanyahu earlier, applying more pressure, and publicly offering Israelis a credible alternative vision while Biden still had significant popularity and leverage in Israel.

But that all would have had to happen in late 2023 or early 2024, before Biden became a lame duck. By the summer, it was largely too late. And to be honest, I’m not sure it would have worked. But I do wish we had tried.

4. One thing I do regret from the campaign: not having a Palestinian speaker on stage at the DNC. I wasn’t part of that decision. It was my first week on the campaign. I don’t think it would have changed the election outcome. But I do think it would have been the right thing to do.

[Dan Shapiro @DanielBShapiro]

I agree with J Street on various things, and disagree on others. But I have no doubt of their commitment to Israel’s security, strong U.S.-Israel relations, and peace between Israel and its neighbors, including with a Palestinian state. They represent a significant constituency of American Jews and others, and there is no call for treating them or speaking of them as outcasts, and no wisdom in doing so.
https://t.co/UK9lbF8Dei

[Jonathan Weisman @jonathanweisman]

I wrote of a looming schism between American and Israeli Jews in 2019, before Gaza, before Ben Gvir and Smotrich. I'm not sure the Israeli leadership, or frankly the leadership of major U.S. Jewish organizations know how far the breach has progressed. https://t.co/y4qSTXHcbb

[Jewish Dems @USJewishDems]

The newest poll of Jewish voters proves what we’ve known all along:

The Democratic Party is the home of Jewish voters – and it will continue to be because it’s the only party that aligns with our values. That’s why 67% of Jewish voters plan to vote Democratic in the midterms.

[Barak Ravid @BarakRavid]

More than 500 rabbis, cantors and Jewish communal leaders call on Israeli ambassador Yechiel Leiter to apologize for attack on J Street, @JTAnews reports
https://t.co/4lQDfo9ztd