John Kerry to join Joe Biden in addressing J Street
US secretary of state will speak for first time at liberal group’s conference on Monday night
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WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State John Kerry will join Vice President Joe Biden in addressing J Street’s annual gala on Monday night.
The progressive pro-Israel policy group announced Kerry’s attendance over the weekend. Biden’s participation was announced last week.
This will be the first time Kerry has addressed the organization’s annual conference, being held in Washington, DC, while Biden spoke once before at the conference in 2013.
Billed as an alternative to the traditional pro-Israel lobby in the US, J Street was founded eight years ago with the motto “Pro-Israel, pro-peace” to lobby for American government support of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Biden’s speech in 2013 was seen as a major boost to the reputation of the organization. The vice president remains the highest-level US official to have addressed the conference.
Leaders of the group and its student affiliate, J Street U, met Friday with President Barack Obama, according to a Facebook post by the group.
J Street and J Street U leaders were honored to meet Friday with President Barack Obama at the White House. They had the…
Posted by J Street on Sunday, April 17, 2016
The meeting and the speeches come as media speculation increases over whether Obama will outline the parameters of a two-state solution before he leaves office in January.
Other speakers at this year’s J Street conference include Israeli Knesset Member Stav Shaffir, also addressing the event for the second time; US senator Tim Kaine, and New York Times columnist Roger Cohen.
The Times of Israel Community.