Lenny Ben-David is being Threatened

For immediate release

J Street’s Acolytes Have Called for a Pogrom against Lenny Ben-David for Publishing the Facts and Exposing the Truth

There’s a mini-pogrom taking place this week. A horde of sharp-tongued Cossack bloggers are going after Lenny Ben-David. Why? Because he asked too many embarrassing and well-researched questions about their J Street suzerain .

The term of “pogrom” is not used lightly; two bloggers http://attackerman.firedoglake.com/2009/10/20/rebecca-abou-chedid/ have publicly threatened Mr. Ben-David.

“Lenny Ben-David: You and I will meet someday, face to face,” Spencer “Attackerman” wrote on his blog. “I hope it comes very soon. I promise you it will be an unforgettable experience.”

MJ Rosenberg added to that, “If Lenny is smart, he will avoid ever being near [Spencer] (Spencer’s tats are bigger than the whole Lenny). Lenny loves the idea of Tough Jews. Attackerman, you can teach him what such Jews are like when they are defending friends. … [T]ake the weasel to court. Or what’s left of him after Spencer finishes him off.”

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/20/the_man_behind_the_j_street_smear_campaign

http://peacenow.org/entries/lenny_ben-david_plays_the_race_card

http://attackerman.firedoglake.com/2009/10/20/rebecca-abou-chedid/

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/21/rightwing_zionist_organization_of_america_flatout/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mj-rosenberg/the-man-behind-the-j-stre_b_327111.html

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/10/the-aipacj-street-war.html

Coordinated attacks were unleashed simultaneously on October 21 by at least four bloggers close to J Street. The motive for their coordinated ad hominem attacks is clear: to shift the public attention away from the investigations of J Street’s mysterious leadership, the non-transparent donations to J Street’s main organization, and a decision-making process that leads to contrarian positions on the Gaza military campaign, sanctions against Iran, the Goldstone report, and more.

Clearly Mr. Ben-David hit a raw nerve: someone didn’t like it when he wrote yesterday http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/showdown-on-j-street that the investigations will continue deeper into the files of the Federal Election Commission and the U.S. Justice Department.

We call on J Street to denounce the threats against Mr. Ben-David immediately.

Mr. Ben-David is available for interviews. He can be reached by email at BenDavid@i-consult.org

202.558.5378 in the U.S. between 8 am and 4 pm EST.

(972) 054.216.8155 in Israel between 8 am and 5 PM Israel Time.

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J Street on the Attack as Questions Go Unanswered

by Lenny Ben-David

Questions that have been raised about J Street -- its supporters, its funders and its mission -- over the last 10 weeks still go unanswered:

• Who makes the controversial decisions at J Street? Its ubiquitous director, Jeremy Ben-Ami? Is he omnipotent or does he answer to a board?

• Who are members of that board?

• Was the decision to fight sanctions against Iran reached because of an alliance with an Iranian-American lobby, leaders of which contribute to J Street’s PAC and sit on J Street’s Finance Committee?

• Why do dozens of people with anti-Israel history and affiliations contribute to a purported “pro-Israel” organization?

This has nothing to do with whether J Street contributors have Arab-American or Palestinian or Iranian names. Contrary to what J Street's acolytes would like the public to believe, there is absolutely no racist bias in this investigation. If the bloggers are unhappy because I named an Arab-American friend of theirs, it was not because of her name but because of the attempt by J Street to hide her affiliation, as they hid the identity of a Palestinian billionaire listed in the Federal records as a “not-employed ” individual from Orlando, Florida.

There have also been revelations of contributors and advisors named Dutton, Close, Elbinger, Peratis, Barnett, Pelletreau and others – none with Arabic or Iranian names -- who all have been closely involved with Saudi Arabia or other Arab interests as lawyers, foreign agents, diplomats and even CIA personnel.

Why does J Street’s PAC go to great length to hide the affiliations of their donors? Clearly, J Street, some of its contributors, and maybe even some candidates are very unhappy when they see that every donor listed in the Federal Election Commission files will be scrutinized as to their real identity, affiliation and citizenship.

Lenny Ben-David worked for AIPAC from 1972 to 1997 in Washington and Jerusalem. He later served as Deputy Chief of Mission at Embassy of Israel in Washington. Today, he is a public affairs consultant and blogs at www.lennybendavid.com.