As the linen and the dollars roll in in preparation for J Street's gala Washington conference and dinner at the end of October attended by no fewer than 160 members of Congress, a large ice cube has been dropped onto the tablecloth. Yesterday, U.S. Israeli Embassy spokesperson Yoni Peled said, referring to J Street:



"while recognizing the need for a free and open debate on these issues, it is important to stress concern over certain policies that could impair Israel's interests."

Since the founding of Israel sixty years ago, the Foreign Ministry has scrupulously avoided entering the dangerous waters of internecine American Jewish organizational feuding. As a result of J Street's staunch opposition to sanctions on Iran, among other issues, mirroring President Obama's positions, Ambassador Michael Oren's office decided to take the unprecedented step of rebuking a group that is clearly antithetical to the interests and security of Israel.

J Street spokesperson, Amy Spitalnick, in full damage control mode, replied:

"It's not a surprise that we disagree with certain Israeli government policies," J Street spokeswoman Amy Spitalnick said. "Our bottom line is that we always support the State of Israel and its future as a democracy."

The Foreign Ministry's statement comes on the heels of what appears to be the non-appearance (and ultimate snub) by Ambassador Oren at the conference, to which he was invited. The invitation was more a a gauntlet thrown down by J Street. If Oren had accepted, his presence would no doubt have been exploited by the J Street PR machine as tacit approval of its radical agenda. Were he to decline, J Street would similarly use the occasion to reinforce their characterization of the Netanyahu government as "obstructionist" and "hawkish".

The embassy spokesperson's statement served to preempt J Street by providing the full weight of the Israeli government (which has recently endorsed the two-state solution) in identifying J Street as a dangerous, fringe group that, at its basis, endorses the borderline, antisemitic Walt/Mearsheimer thesis. (see JStreetJive's exclusive interview with Stephen Walt who has endorsed J Street).

Now, the foremost anti-Israel organization must find a fill-in for Israel itself. Watch for a surprise guest appearance by the marginalized Yossi Beilin or his lieutenant, Dan Levy.

Oren's move was brilliantly timed and courageous. If you listen carefully, you can hear the wind rushing out of Ben Ami's sail.