J Street Endorsees in Congress Refuse to Support Iron Dome Funding for Israel

J Street Endorsees in Congress Refuse to Support Iron Dome Funding for Israel

J Street funnels $92,387 to members who wouldn’t support Iron Dome

An Iron Dome missile interceptor overlooking Haifa, Israel / AP

BY: Adam Kredo
August 21, 2014 1:30 pm
Eleven lawmakers backed by liberal advocacy group J Street either voted against or refused to vote in favor of increased funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, which has been a critical life-saver during Hamas’s latest assault on the Jewish state.
Congress overwhelmingly approved an emergency increase in funding for Iron Dome this month by a vote of 395 to 8.
Three of the eight who voted against the funding increase are J Street-backed lawmakers. Another eight abstained from the pro-Israel vote and also are financially supported by the group.
J Street’s political action committee (PAC) has already donated and bundled in this election cycle alone at least $92,387 to lawmakers who did not vote in favor of Iron Dome funding—which J Street itself claims is a priority for its endorsees.
The revelation that 11 of the 37 lawmakers who either voted against or abstained from supporting Iron Dome prompted outrage in the pro-Israel community and criticism of J Street for financially supporting lawmakers who take an explicitly anti-Israel line.