Last week AIPAC circulated a mail piece dedicated to one of the “gravest threats” they’re confronting.

Not Netanyahu’s judicial coup. Not escalating terror & violence. Not even Iran’s nuclear program.

The grave threat? Us. J Street.

How did we get here?
Thread🧵 Sadly, over time, AIPAC has embraced an increasingly distorted vision of what it means to be “pro-Israel” – one more aligned with the goals of the Netanyahu government and the American right than with the Jewish, democratic values of most Jewish Americans (+ Israelis themselves).

The dust-up over @RepJayapal’s use of the word ‘racist’ misses the point. The threat to Israel’s future isn’t adjectives progressives use to describe Israel’s govt & policies. It’s the Netanyahu govt’s actions putting Israel’s Jewish & democratic nature at risk.

🧵3 key points: One: Rep. Jayapal was defending her colleague @janschakowsky from malicious attack – to which she is regularly subjected – for not supporting legislation that only around 20 of her colleagues co-sponsor. 2/

As a general rule, you won't find rants in the form of tweet threads in my feed. In fact, for months, I have largely avoided Twitter for the sake of my sanity. Democracy’s decline seems to me rooted in the dismal discourse and fact-free debate on social media. @DanDiker84 1/ Yet, here I am. I needed somewhere to (virtually) scream about a horrific week in Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. I opened up Twitter and what do I find - never-ending tweets sent my way by @DanDiker84, a high school buddy and spokesperson for the Israeli right. 2/

It's over the top and counterproductive for Israel's Ambassador to the US/UN to refer to @benandjerrys' decision not to sell its products in occupied Palestinian territory as antisemitism, say it 'dehumanizes Jews' or liken it to an act of violence or hatred. 1/6 And it’s downright harmful to the US-Israel relationship when Israeli officials lobby for enforcement of constitutionally dubious laws that trample on Americans’ First Amendment rights. 2/6

I’m a simple guy with simple likes and dislikes. Huge fan of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream (anything chocolate). I’ve had a lifelong love affair with Israel. And I also can’t stand the occupation #Thread🧵 1/12 My family’s from Israel. I’ve lived there. I’m proud of so much of what the country has accomplished. 2/12

When a major ice cream company originally founded by two Jewish entrepreneurs decides not to sell its products in the occupied territories, that isn’t antisemitism.
1/3 The fight against antisemitism would be helped a great deal if the Israeli gov't & US Jewish leaders would stop using the term against those who draw a principled and rational distinction between commercial transactions in the State of Israel & those in the territory it occupies.

No economic plan can substitute for a political agreement addressing the core issues driving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 1/6
jstreet.org/press-releases… No showpiece economic conference can make up for the hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian assistance that this White House has already cruelly cut. 2/6
bbc.com/news/world-mid…

The Jared Kushner Axios interview with @JonathanvSwan making the rounds today is exactly as amoral and delusional as everyone is saying. It’s hard to identify the *worst* part. 1/8
timesofisrael.com/kushner-doubts… It’s astounding, for example, that someone holding themselves out to be the key negotiator in an Israeli-Palestinian 'peace' plan brushes off concerns over his one-sided approach by proudly claiming "I'm not here to be trusted." 2/8