After they raised $15,000 for Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) in just four hours, and more than $30,000 overall, J Street PAC received the above thank-you message from the congresswoman.
She says in the video that "it’s clear the status quo has changed, and that thanks to J Street PAC, "pro-Israel, pro-peace members of Congress like me will have the financial support we need to stand up strongly for the values and princples we share with you."
"I’ll be sure to tell my collegaues about J Street PAC and the great work we’re doing" she said.
But could the chill in relations between Edwards and some local Jewish leaders be thawing? Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington executive director Ron Halber has been critical of Edwards’ willingness to meet with Jewish leaders in her district , but at a JCRC-sponsored forum on the Middle East this week, Halber introduced to the crowd a man sitting near the back of the room. It was Edwards’ foreign policy legislative assistant, who had accepted an invitation to attend the forum.
He heard two speakers who are much more pessimistic than Edwards about the chances of peace in the region. Both Elliott Abrams, deputy national security adviser in the Bush administration, and Aaron David Miller, who worked on Middle East peace negotiations in the Clinton and Bush senior administrations, said a conflict-ending agreement was unlikely anytime soon.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
