ADL Sends Message To President, J Street Responds (and ADL writes back--UPDATED)

[Purveyor]

The Anti-Defamation League has an ad in the New York Times headlined, "Mr. President, the problem isn't settlements, it's Arab rejection."

"Mr. President, it's time to stop pressuring our vital friend and ally," states the ad. "It's now time to direct your attention to the rejectionists who refuse to recognize Israel and negotiate an end to the conflict. With your leadership, yes, we can have peace. But the path begins with the recognition of Israel."

J Street executive director Jeremy Ben-Ami responded with an open letter to ADL national director Abe Foxman on J Street's Web site, in which Ben-Ami decries "pointing fingers" and says he wants everyone to get along:

Couldn’t we all agree that the best route forward is not for each side to call on the other to move first, but to get all sides to the table with strong U.S. leadership to figure out how we move together before time runs out on a peaceful resolution to this conflict and we lock ourselves into a status quo that in the near future threatens Israel’s very nature as a Jewish, democratic homeland?

UPDATE: Foxman has responded to Ben-Ami with his own open letter to the J Street leader:

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http://blogs.jta.org/politics/article/2009/08/04/1007038/adl-sends-message-to-president-j-street-responds