Speaking of the undue coziness those supposedly populist Democrats have with the wealthy and powerful, there’s an interesting story out today about the George Soros-funded JStreet group:
Jeremy Ben-Ami, the founder and president of J Street, the liberal Jewish group, e-mailed Goldblog last night: “Reports of our demise (including from you) are greatly exaggerated….” He was referring to a question I posted earlier in the day: “Will J Street even be around in its current form in coming days, now that it is enveloped in a scandal (more of a cover-up than a crime, in the traditional Washington style)?”
The scandal grows from a decision by Jeremy Ben-Ami to cover-up, over a long period of time, something he knew to be true: That George Soros, the billionaire investor and non-friend of Israel, provided J Street with almost $750,000 in funding.
Now what does this have to do with Ohio, you ask? Let me take you back to February of this year, when Kilroy went on a JStreet junket:
A group of lawmakers that includes Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy found itself in the middle of tensions between a liberal pro-Israel group and elements of the conservative government during a trip this week to that country.
Kilroy, D-Columbus, and several other House Democrats were taken on a trip to Israel and Jordan by the nonprofit group JStreet, a pro-Israel group that is regarded as more liberal on many issues than the better known and older pro-Israel group AIPAC. But when the lawmakers tried to visit Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, the member of the country’s conservative government “snubbed” the lawmakers, according to news reports. At least one report said another liberal group, Churches for Middle East Peace, also sponsored the trip, and that the Israeli army blocked the delegation from visiting the Gaza Strip.