Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Zenger
Zenger
Lennox Kalifungwa

J Street Adds Controversial Union Leader To Board, Drawing Criticism

J Street, the left wing lobby that serves as the political home and voice for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy Americans, named Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), to its board on Wednesday. 

AFT is one of the nation’s most powerful labor unions. Weingarten, who is Jewish, has been accused of harming children by pushing for public schools to shutter during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has said her emphasis was on protecting teachers and students.

Randi Weingarten, president of  the American Federation  of Teachers joins street board of directors in USA on Jun 24, 2019. ANDREW HARRER/BLOOMBERG VIA  GETTY IMAGES.

J Street named the investor Peter Frey chair of its board of directors, and the diplomat Jon Greenwald, former Recording Industry Association CEO Cary Sherman and John Yarumth, a former congressman, also joined the board.

On July 24, Weingarten and the head of another union referred to a dark day for Israeli democracy, in a joint statement. “The push to topple democratic consensus in Israel by a right-wing, extreme government must be challenged,” they stated. “We pledge to do everything in our power to stand with the pro-democracy protesters and to protect democracy in Israel.”

“American Jews are now part of the ownership class.” At the time, StandWithUs head Roz Rothstein,” said Weingarten’s in 2021, Weingarten to JTA in a statement that gave “undue legitimacy to antisemitic stereotypes.”

The Republican Jewish Coalition noted Weingarten’s appointment to the J Street board in a post on social media. “By welcoming radical teachers union boss Randi Weingarten—who consistently puts union bosses over students and parents—to its board, J Street is exposed, yet again, that it aligns with the worst of the far-left—this is just the latest example,” the RJC wrote.

Gregory Smith, chief of staff to Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) wrote that Weingarten’s appointment “checks out.” 

“You’d be hard pressed to find someone that has done more damage to children in America than Randi Weingarten,” Smith stated. “You’d be equally hard pressed to find a group that has done more damage to bipartisan support for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship than J Street.”

A 2010 profile of Weingarten in the Forward noted that the “leading Jew in labor wears pearls.”

“Teachers’ union leader Randi Weingarten doesn’t look like a stereotypical union boss,” Josh Nathan-Kazis wrote. “But when the diminutive Jewish lawyer in a black pantsuit and pearl earrings repeatedly banged her fist on a podium to punctuate a defense of her union before a small group of educators in Washington in April, she matched any old-school cigar chomper from the George Meany era.”

Randi Weingarten, president of  the American Federation  of Teachers joins street board of directors in USA on Jun 24, 2019. ANDREW HARRER/BLOOMBERG VIA  GETTY IMAGES.

A labor activist told the Forward at the time that “People think there’s more in her future than simply to remain in perpetuity at the head of the AFT.”

“J Street is a hostile organization that harms the interests of the State of Israel,” said an Israeli minister. In December, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken,” said in a keynote lecture at J Street’s national conference in Washington that Arab states can leverage the Abraham Accords to pressure Israel.

Produced in association with Jewish News Syndicate

Edited by Othieno B and Newsdesk Manager

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.