Hillel president apologizes for J Street snub

Eric Fingerhut, the president of Hillel International, apologizes to J Street U student leaders for any hurt he caused when he backed out as a speaker at the group’s conference in March.

Fingerhut speaks Monday before 122 leaders during J Street U’s three-day summer leadership institute at a conference center in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

“There’s no question that the political dynamics are fraught, and I know we had that conversation,” Fingerhut says while gesturing to Benjy Cannon, the immediate past president of J Street U, the campus affiliate of the liberal pro-Israel lobbying group. “But there’s nobody responsible for any hurt that occurred in March except me.”

Fingerhut says he “took a step back” from the conference, which he reportedly pulled out of under donor pressure, when it became clear that his speaking during the J Street U conference could be viewed as an endorsement of the group’s policies.

“This is about engaging students,” Fingerhut says. “It’s not about endorsing an organization’s political agenda because Hillel doesn’t do that.”

— Washington Jewish Week via JTA