The embattled and embarrassed leader of J Street, Jeremy Ben Ami, found himself in the middle of a firestorm of attention - most not to his liking - when he was abruptly ejected from a Reform - yes, a Reform - synagogue last week near Boston. A group of congregants from Temple Beth Avodah in Newton, MA expressed their concern and outrage that a man whose organization has done so much to undermine the security of the Jewish State would be honored by an appearance at their synagogue.

Still reeling from the explosive revelation that George "Jews and Israel cause antisemitism" Soros was a major funder of J Street, Ben Ami, the consummate Washington insider and spinmeister, took those lemons and tried to make lemonade.

But try as he might to "turn the page" on the Soros affair, Ben Ami was dogged at every turn by pointed questions about the billionaire pirate's funding. Deborah Becker at - of all places - the local NPR affiliate, WBUR, pressed him on his obvious lying about the hundreds of thousands of dollars poured into J Street as did the editor of The Jewish Advocate, Steve Maas. The only people buying what J Street was selling, it would seem, were his lieutenants and the gathered faithful.

Squirm #1:

Anyone who believes that George Soros is "Pro Israel" deserves Ben Ami as Fearless Leader. As a lawyer, Ben Ami should know never to ask a question whose answer you are unsure of. Had the controllers of the evening permitted, virtually the entire Advisory Council of J Street would have been revealed as denigrators of Israel:

Rob "Arafat saved my dad" Malley, Henry "Israel is the only Apartheid regime in the Western world" Siegman, Morton "Let's Sell Goldstone to Congress" Halperin, Daniel "Israel was a mistake" Levy, Robert "Arabist" Pelletreau,  Milton "Support Palestinian Resistance" Viorst, Ayelet "Obama is radiant" Waldman, to name just a few.

Exactly how Ben Ami can persist in his "Pro Israel" chicanery must be a testament to the incredible gullibility of his robotic fans. In this exchange with Mr. Maas, Ben Ami faults Arab countries but absolves the Palestinians. Moreover, Arafat, the commander of Palestinian terror against Israel, the assassin of U.S. diplomats, simply "made mistakes." Note that in a speech at the Tufts Fletcher School of diplomacy one hour prior to his appearance in front of a Jewish audience, Ben Ami made no mention whatsoever of Arab state aggression, Palestinian Arab complicity or even of Arafat and his "mistakes."

Squirm #2:

Palestinians represent to Ben Ami - as they do to his blind followers - a cipher, a collective, sainted, third world native people something like native Americans, blameless and ever-suffering at the hands of perfidious Jews. Only when pressed, will Ben Ami acknowledge even Arab states' enmity towards Israel. No better proof of J Street's purpose as a Palestinian Arab support group can be offered.

No evening would be complete without the mantra of "Social Justice" of course. On Planet J Street, SJ , naturally, applies only to Palestinian Arabs. And who are the Jews to dictate to them that they must allow Jews to become citizens of their future democratic paradise? Jews must "understand' the legitimate hatred of Arabs. Unbelievable.

Squirm #3:

More to follow.

[Crossposted from JStreetJive.]