AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, has long been the major lobby for Israel in Washington. Now it’s being challenged for influence by J Street, a Jewish-American group that’s pro-Israel but advocates an end to settlement building and the blockade of Gaza. J Street has offices in New York and several other cities and now in Los Angeles. Jeremy Ben-Ami is a 25-year veteran of government, politics and communication in the US and Israel, and the founding president of J Street.