About Word on the Street
Welcome to Word on the Street, my first venture into the world of Substack and regular blogging.
As tensions on Israel-related issues rise and polarization deepens, folks ask me if there’s any space left for nuanced, middle-ground voices.
It’s my take that, when those at the poles pull to the extremes, it leaves a lot of space in the center of the conversation for balanced, thoughtful commentary. That’s the space I look to fill – personally and through the organization I lead, J Street.
J Street organizes pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy Americans to promote US policies that embody our deeply held Jewish and democratic values and that help secure the State of Israel as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people. We believe that only a negotiated resolution agreed to by Israelis and Palestinians can meet the legitimate needs and national aspirations of both peoples.
While nothing I say or write can ever be viewed as all that distinct from what J Street does and thinks, Word on the Street will represent my own personal writing. I alone will be responsible for the content. This column is my personal contribution to balanced and nuanced conversation on these issues.
Jeremy Ben-Ami is the President of J Street, bringing to the role both deep experience in American politics and government and a passionate commitment to the state of Israel. Ben-Ami led the creation of the organization in 2008 and has been its President since, overseeing its growth from “basement start-up” to political home for the moderate mainstream of Jewish Americans on issues related to Israel and the Middle East.
Ben-Ami’s family connection to Israel goes back over 140 years to the first aliyah when his great-grandparents were among the first settlers in Petah Tikva. His grandparents were one of the founding families of Tel Aviv, and his father was an activist and leader in the Irgun, working for Israel’s independence and on the rescue of European Jews before and during World War II.
His decades in political and policy work include serving as the Deputy Domestic Policy Advisor in the White House to President Bill Clinton and working on seven Presidential and numerous state and local campaigns. He was Howard Dean’s National Policy Director in 2004 and helped manage a Mayoral campaign in New York City.
For nearly three years in the late 90s, Jeremy lived in Israel, where he started a consulting firm working with Israeli non-profit organizations and politicians. Ben-Ami received a law degree from New York University and is a graduate of the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
