J Street Chooses Palestinian State Over the Hostages

Why is J Street making the creation of a Palestinian state a higher priority than the hostages in Gaza?

That question was raised on October 7, in Washington, DC by Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son Sagui is being held by Hamas. In his remarks at a Jewish gathering, Dekel-Chen revealed the contents of his recent communications with J Street, the controversial American Jewish group that advocates for an independent Palestinian state.

“A few weeks back, I asked them to abandon, at least for now, the two-state solution as a talking point,” Dekel said. “Not because I don’t believe it, simply because it’s a non-starter in terms of where Israeli society is today.”

That seems like a reasonable request. He was urging J Street to stop shouting about the need for a Palestinian state—something most Israelis consider a danger—and start prioritizing the hostages.

So I checked J Street’s web site to see how they have responded to Dekel-Chen’s request. J Street has issued eight press releases in recent weeks. But none of them announced any moratorium on lobbying for creation of a Palestinian state.

To the contrary, the J Street web site is still filled with demands for setting up a Palestinian state in Israel’s back yard—as soon as possible and whether Israelis like it or not.

Dekel-Chen’s revelation is fascinating because a constant mantra of Israel’s critics has been the claim that the Israeli leadership is not making the hostages the top priority. The critics charge that Israeli leaders are more interested in other concerns than abductees in Gaza. And, of course, J Street has been prominent among those critics.

Yet here we have a direct appeal by a hostage’s father to J Street itself, to make the hostages top priority and set aside their Palestinian statehood crusade—and J Street refuses to do it, even temporarily.

Nobody is asking J Street to give their Palestinian statehood passion permanently. All Jonathan Dekel-Chen is asking is for them to very briefly set the issue aside. To focus on the hostages, such as his son. To temporarily prioritize what’s most important.

But they won’t do it. Not even for five minutes.

J Street is so completely and utterly devoted to the idea of forcing Israelis to accept a Palestinian state that it won’t even undertake the briefest tactical pause in response to a desperate plea from a hostage’s father.

Talk about hearts of stone!

Sagui Dekel-Chen has been languishing in some dark Hamas tunnel

for the past year. His diet consists of scraps of bread and spoiled leftovers. He’s not allowed to communicate with his family or other loved ones. He’s not allowed visits from the Red Cross.

And so his poor father turns to J Street for help. That makes sense, since J Street boasts of its friendly relationship with Palestinian Authority leaders and other prominent figures in the Palestinian Arab world. J Street is in a position to publicly challenge the PA for supporting Hamas. That would help increase the pressure on the hostage-takers.

If J Street were to announce that it is temporarily suspending its support for Palestinian statehood, until the hostages are released, that would send a powerful message to both the PA and Hamas.

Instead, J Street has turned a deaf ear to Sagui Dekel-Chen and the other hostages. Its top priority remains the creation of “Palestine.” At this darkest hour for Israel and the Jewish people, that’s where J Street stands—with the Palestinian cause, not with the hostages.

It’s just sad. Terribly, terribly sad.

(Moshe Phillips is National Chairman of Americans For A Safe Israel, a leading pro-Israel advocacy and education group.)