Israeli ambassador calls J Street a 'cancer within Jewish community'

Israeli ambassador calls J Street a ‘cancer within Jewish community’

Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, called the liberal pro-Israel lobby “duplicitous” over its opposition to U.S. military aid to Israel

By Grace Gilson; May 20, 2026; Forward

Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, took aim at the leading liberal pro-Israel lobby J Street on Monday, calling the group “duplicitous” and a “cancer within the Jewish community.”

Speaking at the National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism meeting at Museum of the Bible in Washington, Leiter decried J Street’s recent opposition to continued U.S. military subsidies to Israel, a position that has been echoed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent months.

“How can you be pro-Israel and advocate for an arms embargo on a state that’s fighting a seven-front war against Iranian proxies?” Leiter said.

Leiter, a Netanyahu appointee and former settler leader, also criticized the group’s self-description as “pro-Israel, pro-peace and pro-democracy,” telling those gathered in Washington D.C. that “if they said that they were pro-Palestinian, I wouldn’t have a problem meeting with them.”

more at: https://forward.com/fast-forward/826222/israeli-ambassador-calls-j-street-a-cancer-within-jewish-community/