Now that Goldstone has recanted, a reminder how J Street helped him

Richard Goldstone

Judge Richard Goldstone, who chaired the UN's Human Rights Council report on the 2009 Gaza war, will go down in infamy for his "blood libel" against Israel, to use Jeffrey Goldberg's appropriate term.   "Goldstone, who excoriated Israel for allegedly committing premeditated crimes against civilians in Gaza -- contribut[ed], more than any other individual, to the delegitimization and demonization of the Jewish state," Goldberg continued.

The occasion of the Goldberg's accusation was the Judge's recanting of his infamous "Goldstone Report" in an Washington Post Op-Ed,  "Reconsidering the Goldstone Report on Israel and war crimes."

If Richard Goldstone played the role of the Grand Inquisitor Tomás de Torquemada in his thrashing of the Jewish State, there were others who readily volunteered to serve on the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition. 

Kenneth Roth, director of the Human Rights Watch, wrote in the Economist in October 2009 a defense of Goldstone's accusation that "Israel implemented a deliberate and systematic policy to inflict suffering on civilians in Gaza" -- a key indictment that Goldstone today rejects. 
And then there is J Street.  The allegedly "pro-Israel" organization refused to condemn the one-sided Goldstone Report when it was published.  Indeed, it helped promote Judge Goldstone on Capitol Hill.  According to the Jerusalem Post, "J Street advocated a nuanced response to the report, calling it unfair and unbalanced but refusing to denounce it outright. It also argued, alongside some Israeli politicians, that the Jewish state would have been better served had it cooperated with the probe."

"J Street facilitated meetings between members of Congress and South African Judge Richard Goldstone," The Washington Times reported.  "Colette Avital — a former member of Israel's parliament — told The Washington Times that her decision to resign her post with J Street earlier this year was a result in part of the group's 'connection to Judge Goldstone. When Judge Goldstone came to Washington, [J Street leaders were] suggesting that they might help him set up his appointments on Capitol Hill,' she said." [Avital later denied making the accusation, but the conversation was recorded.]

"A senior officer of J Street... played a central role in arranging Judge Goldstone's visit [to Capitol Hill in October 2009]," The Times reported.  "Judge Goldstone told The Times in an interview that he had sought the meetings after a discussion with longtime friend Morton H. Halperin — president of the Open Society Institute (OSI) and one of five senior officers at J Street, according to the group's federal tax returns. Those forms list Mr. Halperin as a "director," and say he spends 10 hours a week on J Street business."

Halperin actually drafted a letter Goldstone sent to members of Congress, The Weekly Standard reported. According to the article, J Street Adviser Morton Halperin Goes to Work for Goldstone, "the document was written in response to HR 867 -- the resolution sponsored by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Howard Berman condemning Goldstone's report on Israeli war crimes in Operation Cast Lead. Goldstone explains in the document that he sends his 'comments on this resolution in an effort to correct factual errors.'"

How will Roth, J Street, and Halperin react today?