J Street’s national conference, which formally gets under way on Sunday after a gala opening on Saturday night, will host a slew of prominent liberal Democrats, numerous members of Congress, a handful of Knesset members and no Republican speakers.
The speaking lineup for the liberal Jewish lobby group’s sixth confab — which runs from February 26-28 at the Washington Convention Center — includes three senators and three House members; four Knesset members and one Palestinian Authority official; one former US secretary of state and one former US negotiator on Israeli-Palestinian peace; many Democrats but no members of the Trump administration. Vice President Mike Pence, Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were invited but did not respond. (Secretary of state John Kerry and vice president Joe Biden spoke at last year’s conference.)