J Street Fundraises off Steve Bannon Speech to ZOA Dinner

J Street, the far-left organization that opposes Israeli government policies and backs U.S. politicians who do the same, is fundraising off Steve Bannon’s speech to the Zionist Organization of America dinner on Sunday night.

The Breitbart News executive chairman won standing ovations from the Jewish organization for his message of support for Israel, and his warning that the Beltway establishment was imposing dangerous policies on the Jewish State.

“There are so many games being played by the establishment … You get double dealt all the time,” Bannon told the audience. “That’s how you get the Iran Deal. And that’s how we still allow the American government to finance people that have blood on their hands of innocent Jewish civilians.”

“I am not a moderate, I’m a fighter. And that’s why I’m proud to stand with the state of Israel. That’s why I’m proud to be a Christian Zionist,” he added.

In response, J Street retweeted a photograph of Bannon with ZOA president Morton Klein, with the comment: “Outraged? Do something about it. Donate to J Street to support a pro-Israel [sic] voice that will fight for your values.”

J Street was founded a decade ago and received support from left-wing billionaire George Soros (though J Street denied it at the time). Its first major public campaign was to shut down a planned appearance by then-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin at a Jewish community rally against Iran in New York.

Since then, it has opposed wars undertaken by Israel in self-defense. It also opposed sanctions on Iran, and supported the Iran deal. It helped promote the defamatory Goldstone report, which accused Israel of war crimes in its war against Hamas in 2008-9.

While J Street’s leaders are at pains to stress their supposedly “pro-Israel” credentials, many of its supporters are anti-Israel, and the Israeli flag is often conspicuously absent at its events.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.