Thanks to...

...the ever-depressing Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. If this report from the New York Times is accurate, Hoenlein continues to represent the rear-guard of thinking on Middle Eastern and Israeli issues, while continuing to reinforce the fiction that he and his organization are actually representative of the broad perspective of American Jews.

Let me just say, once again - and as if it isn't obvious from what I've written in this space over the last 9 years - that the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations does not represent me. Its title notwithstanding, these are self-appointed grandees, coming from organizations whose interests and attitudes are usually far from mine, on issues ranging from Israel to Israel-and-New York to anti-Semitism.

So, despite what I wrote about then-Senator Obama back in 2007, when he gave a speech to APIAC: if his attitude, reasoning, and words as reported by the Times are true, then there may be hope for a successful Israeli-Palestinian peace process after all.

And kudos to J Street and its executive director, Jeremy Ben-Ami, for becoming enough of a powerhouse countervailing force to get a seat at the table during these discussions. That speaks as much to the change within the American Jewish community (and the fading of an older, long-entrenched generation) as it does about the openness of the Obama administration.