Breaking with his previous restraint, Israel's ambassador to the United States delivered an unprecedented blast against J Street, the new dovish Israel lobby that has made waves in Washington and throughout the Jewish community.

Addressing a breakfast session at the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism's biennial convention December 7, Ambassador Michael Oren described J Street as "a unique problem in that it not only opposes one policy of one Israeli government, it opposes all policies of all Israeli governments. It's significantly out of the mainstream."

After a speech that touched on the spiritual basis for and the threats to the state of Israel, Oren issued an unscripted condemnation of J Street.

"This is not a matter of settlements here [or] there. We understand there are differences of opinion," Oren said. "But when it comes to the survival of the Jewish state, there should be no differences of opinion. You are fooling around with the lives of 7 million people. This is no joke."

Oren's blunt comments contrasted with his reaction in October, when J Street invited him to address its first Washington conference. After an extended delay, Oren declined the offer. The embassy issued a statement saying that it would be "privately communicating its concerns over certain policies of the organization that may impair the interests of Israel." Instead, it sent a lower-level diplomat to observe the conference...

...at the USCJ breakfast, Oren criticized J Street after an audience member asked him how synagogues should respond if congregants requested that the group be invited to make a presentation.

"Engage with them," he said. "But I think it's very important that you be up-front with them and say why these policies are outside the mainstream and why they are inimical to Israel's fundamental interests."

Oren cited J Street's criticism of Israel's military campaign in Gaza in December 2008 and last January, and its support for talks with the Islamist militant group Hamas, which has engaged in terrorism, as examples of positions that were outside the Jewish mainstream; however, an opinion poll sponsored by the Israeli daily Haaretz in November found that 57% of Israelis favored talks with Hamas under certain conditions. Oren also accused J Street of failing to reject the UN's Goldstone report, which found Israel had committed war crimes during the Gaza campaign. Finally, he charged that the group opposed sanctions against Iran...