J Street, a “pro-Israel, pro-peace” lobby group, hosted their first conference on October 25-28, 2009. The speakers’ list reflected executive director Jeremy Ben-Ami’s close connections with New Israel Fund (NIF) and Israeli NGOs. The two speakers in the opening session were Ben-Ami and Daniel Sokatch, incoming CEO of NIF.

Other participants in the conference included Didi Remez, a senior partner at Ben-Or Strategic Communications and Consulting – a firm founded by Ben-Ami – and representatives from NGOs represented by Ben-Or and funded by NIF: ACRI, Breaking the Silence, B’Tselem, Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR), and the Geneva Initiative group. These NGOs presented at sessions such as “Human Rights in Israel” and “Setting the Stage for Peace: The Fight for Democratic Values.”