Jeremy Ben-Ami (born 1962) is the President of

J Street J Street ( he, ג'יי סטריט) is a nonprofit liberal advocacy group based in the United States whose stated aim is to promote American leadership to end the Arab–Israeli and Israeli–Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatica ...

, a liberal advocacy organization in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

dedicated to promoting American leadership to end the

Arab-Israeli The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic an ...

and Israel-Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatically. He is also the executive director of JStreetPAC, which endorses and raises money for federal candidates.

Early life and education

Ben-Ami grew up in New York City. He is the son of the late Eve and the late Yitshaq Ben-Ami. His father was born in

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

, but moved to the United States. Ben-Ami grew up in a Jewish home and became Bar Mitzvah at Temple Rodeph Sholom in Manhattan.Alisa Biran, Jeremy Ben-Ami
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', February 18, 2001 He attended Collegiate School, also in Manhattan. He graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

and received a law degree from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Career

Ben-Ami was

President Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again f ...

's Deputy Domestic Policy Adviser, and later Policy Director on

Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, lobbyist, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 200 ...

's presidential campaign. He was most recently Senior Vice President at

Fenton Communications Fenton Communications is a public relations firm that was founded by David Fenton in 1982. They describe themselves as the "largest public interest communications firm in the country", and maintain offices in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, San Franci ...

. Earlier he was the Communications Director for the

New Israel Fund The New Israel Fund (NIF) is a United States-based non-profit NGO established in 1979. It describes its objective as social justice and equality for all Israelis. The New Israel Fund says it has provided $300 million to over 900 Israeli civil so ...

and started the Israeli firm ''Ben-Or Communications'' while living in Israel in the late 1990s. Ben-Ami has worked with Jewish peace groups, including the Center for Middle East Peace and the

Geneva Initiative-North America The Geneva Initiative, also known as the Geneva Accord, is a draft ''Permanent Status Agreement'' to end the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, based on previous official negotiations, international resolutions, the Quartet Roadmap, the Clinton Pa ...

Viewpoints

In March 2011, Ben-Ami commented, Ben-Ami's 2011 book ''A New Voice for Israel'' articulates a philosophy and an agenda for pro-Zionist, pro-peace Judaism based on religious and humanist values. He argues for a two-state solution and for U.S. efforts to promote the same. He also analyzes the dynamics and politics of Israel in the U.S. Jewish community. Reviewing the book,

Sari Nusseibeh Sari Nusseibeh ( ar, سري نسيبة) (born in 1949) is a Palestinian professor of philosophy and former president of the Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. Until December 2002, he was the representative of the Palestinian National Authority in t ...

wrote "Ben-Ami provides an arsenal of logistical and moral arguments stressing that not only is Israel's occupation over another people a threat to the Zionist dream and American interests in the region, but that it also runs counter to rabbinic values....". Abraham J. Edelheit found the book's thesis to be one that

Peter Beinart Peter Alexander Beinart (; born February 28, 1971) is an American liberal columnist, journalist, and political commentator. A former editor of ''The New Republic'', he has also written for ''Time'', ''The New York Times'', and ''The New York Revie ...

has already discussed, and that while he offers convincing evidence that Israeli policies are alienating young Jewish Americans, he fails to "explain how J Street will achieve anything but cementing their criticism of Israel. ". Joseph Finlay, reviewing for ''

Jewish Quarterly 'The Jewish Quarterly' is an international journal of Jewish culture and ideas. Primarily a UK-based publication until 2021, the journal is now published by Australian publisher, Morry Schwartz, for a global audience. With four issues released a y ...

'', wrote that Ben-Ami's critique of contemporary American Jewish leadership is 'entirely unoriginal' and gentle and that instead it is necessary to create "massive pressure on Israel to end the occupation, both directly and via national governments across the world. It needs to harness the energy of BDS and pro-Palestinian activists".

Personal

Ben-Ami married Alisa Biran in 2001. Biran, who was working in fundraising at a music school, happened to be the daughter of a cantor from Ben-Ami's childhood synagogue.

References

External links

Jeremy Ben-Ami
blog archives at ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

''
Staff
biography at

* *
A New Voice for Israel
official book site at

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

*Ben-Ami, Jerem
Tel Aviv, Then and Now
''

'', April 9, 2009 ;Articles *Goldberg, Michell
Same As It Ever Was?
''

The American Prospect ''The American Prospect'' is a daily online and bimonthly print American political and public policy magazine dedicated to American modern liberalism and progressivism. Based in Washington, D.C., ''The American Prospect'' says it "is devoted to ...

'', April 7, 2009 *Traub, Jame
The New Israel Lobby
''

'', September 9, 2009 *Jacobson, Loui
A moment with ... Jeremy Ben-Ami '84, on speaking out about Israel
''

Princeton Alumni Weekly The ''Princeton Alumni Weekly'' (''PAW'') is a magazine published for the alumni of Princeton University. It was founded in 1900 and, until 1977, it was the only weekly college alumni magazine in the United States. Upon changing to biweekly ...

'' October 7, 2009 *Goldberg, Jeffrey
J Street's Ben-Ami on Zionism and Military Aid to Israel
''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', October 23, 2009. *Katz, Mand
The Man on J Street: The Story of Jeremy Ben-Ami
'' Moment'', March/April 2010. * Hoffman, Allison
Heads Up: J Street chief Jeremy Ben-Ami calls the plays for the first self-confident alternative Jewish establishment
''

Tablet Magazine ''Tablet'' is an online magazine focused on Jewish news and culture. The magazine was founded in 2009 and is supported by the Nextbook foundation. Its editor-in-chief is Alana Newhouse. History ''Tablet'' was founded in 2009 with the suppor ...

'', October 28, 2010. * Kirsch, Jonathan
The J Street Zionist
''

The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles ''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles'', known simply as the ''Jewish Journal'', is an independent, nonprofit community weekly newspaper serving the Jewish community of greater Los Angeles, published by TRIBE Media Corp. ''The Journal'' wa ...

'', November 17, 2011. * Shabad, Rebecca
A DC Voice for a Two-State Solution
'' The Hill'', March 4, 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ben-Ami, Jeremy 1962 births Living people American emigrants to Israel American lobbyists American Zionists Date of birth missing (living people) New York University School of Law alumni Princeton University alumni Zionism in the United States Collegiate School (New York) alumni