J Street, the liberal Middle East policy advocacy organization, on Sunday issued a statement acknowledging what the group had earlier denied: J Street received financial support from billionaire George Soros.

By Eli Lake – The Washington Times

EXCERPTS:

“I accept responsibility personally for being less than clear about Mr. Soros‘ support once he did become a donor,” Jeremy Ben Ami, J Street‘s executive director, said in a note to supporters on the group’s website.

The contributions represent a third of the group’s revenue from U.S. sources during the period, which also covered the election season that brought Barack Obama to the White House. Nearly half of J Street‘s revenue during the time frame — a total of $811,697 — however, came from a single donor in Happy Valley, Hong Kong, named Consolacion Esdicul.

But during the George W. Bush administration, Mr. Soros stepped up his funding of more partisan, liberal organizations in the United States, including MoveOn.org. He also has criticized U.S. policies regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the Bush administration‘s decision in 2007 not to recognize a Palestinian unity government that included Hamas, an organization listed by the U.S. State Department as a foreign terrorist organization.

Mr. Ben Ami in past interviews has described J Street as Mr. Obama‘s “blocking back” in Congress and denied getting any funding from Mr. Soros.

Mr. Obama and the White House have expressed concerns about untraced foreign influence on the U.S. political system through donations to tax-exempt “501(c)(4)” nonprofit organizations in recent months.

FULL STORY

Help Make A Difference By Sharing These Articles On Facebook, Twitter And Elsewhere:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Interested In Further Reading? Click Here