Alan Elsner is Special Adviser to the President of J Street.
Alan Elsner
By Alan Elsner
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Community Netanyahu Cares More About His Power Than About Jews
It’s not every week that the Israeli state Holocaust memorial of Yad Vashem and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) issue statements rebuking the Prime Minister of Israel for distorting the historical record of one of the greatest tragedies ever to befall the Jewish people. But it did happen last week. What provoked this…
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Community I’m Leaving My Synagogue Of Three Decades — Over J Street
Recently, I wrote in The Forward about how my Conservative East Coast synagogue refused my request to place a postcard about next month’s J Street National Conference on a table advertising communal events. After the article appeared, the Executive Committee asked me to present my argument before them. The committee sat in silence while I…
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Community My Synagogue Turned Against Me For Supporting J Street
We have read and seen much recently about the way our society has been divided into warring tribes unwilling to hear each other. This was brought home to me recently and very painfully by an incident within my own tribe — indeed within my own intimate spiritual community. When my wife Shulamit and I arrived…
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Opinion Smearing Fellow Jews as ‘Kapos’ Disqualifies David Friedman from Representing America
President Donald Trump’s nomination of lawyer David Friedman to be the next US ambassador to Israel has provoked alarm and outrage in some quarters, especially among many American Jews. Objections to Friedman have been raised on several grounds. Critics cite the fact that he opposes a two-state solution and supports Jewish settlements in the West…
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Opinion AIPAC’s Effort To Reach Out to Liberals Is Doomed to Failure
News that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee wants to reach out more to Democrats and progressives inspires mixed emotions. On one hand, it’s good that the pre-eminent pro-Israeli lobbying organization is coming around to recognizing that liberals are assets to pro-Israel advocacy. But the way it’s going about building support for Israel among this…
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Opinion The Freedom Flotilla’s Real Agenda
As a new international flotilla sets sail for Gaza, three recent headlines put the operation into context. In mid-June, Israel approved the delivery of $100 million of materials needed to build 1,200 new homes and 18 new schools in Gaza. Israel now transports some 50,000 tons of goods to Gaza biweekly. In addition to accelerating…
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