Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog said on Thursday that he does not view J Street, the progressive Israel advocacy group, as a pro-Israel organization, weighing in on the escalating war between his successor, Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, and J Street.

Leiter said earlier this week that he views J Street as a “cancer within the Jewish community,” citing its calls for restricting arms sales and U.S. aid to Israel, and calling group “two-faced” for purporting to be pro-Israel. J Street’s president, Jeremy Ben-Ami, has also accused Israel of genocide.

“To me, to be pro-Israel is to draw a clear line between criticizing Israeli government policies — and supporting anti-Israel agendas and libels de-legitimizing the State of Israel,” Herzog said on X. “To be pro-Israel is to go from pronouncing support for Israel’s right to exist (thank you for the generosity…), to supporting the provision of the means critical to defending that very existence.”

“To be pro-Israel is to listen to Israelis; In our vibrant democracy, most Israelis share the view that j-street doesn’t qualify as pro-Israel,” Herzog continued.

J Street did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Unlike Leiter, a longtime close political ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Herzog was appointed to his role by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, after Bennett’s coalition defeated Netanyahu in 2021, though Herzog remained in his role after Netanyahu was elected, until January 2025. Herzog’s brother, Isaac, is Israel’s president.

His comments criticizing J Street underscore the skepticism that Israeli leaders from across the ideological spectrum have towards the progressive advocacy organization. 

The comments came as J Street rallied more than 500 Jewish leaders calling on Leiter to rescind his remarks and apologize for using language that “dehumanizes fellow Jews.” Signatories include Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY); former U.S. Ambassadors to Israel Dan Kurtzer and Tom Nides; Rabbis Rick Jacobs and David Saperstein, leaders of the Reform movement; and National Council of Jewish Women CEO Jody Rabhan.

At the same time, Leiter on Thursday morning offered a strong defense of the Reform movement, condemning Likud MK and Social Equality Minister Mai Golan for comments lambasting the denomination and telling a prominent Reform rabbi, “You’re marrying dogs in your delusional synagogues.”

Leiter said on X that he condemns “in the strongest terms Minister Mai Golan’s verbal attack on MK Gilad Kariv and on Reform Judaism in general.”

“As an Orthodox Jew and as Israel’s representative to the United States I find her words disgusting and reprehensible, worthy of excoriation and rebuke,” Leiter said. “Theological, political, and ideological differences are fine, even necessary for a healthy people. But there is a line that cannot be crossed, it is a line that divides debate from hate and separates altruism from populism. Too many are crossing the line.”

Leiter said he plans to meet in person with Reform leaders to apologize on Israel’s behalf.