Peres Tries the AIPAC Speech on J Street

Israeli President Shimon Peres could have been addressing AIPAC in his taped video address that opened the J Street plenary this afternoon.

The message largely mirrored that address given in person at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual policy conference earlier this month, yet seemed out of place at a conference where the main issue on the menu wasn’t the growing nuclear threat posed by Iran.

Advocating that “we have to come together to face a new world,” Peres somberly noted “a country that threatens to destroy another country, Israel.”

“It’s not just a danger to Israel,” he said of Iran. “It’s a menace to the entire world.”

Peres advocated a coalition headed by the United States to face the alliance of Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, as “danger is all over the place.”

Reaction to his comments was muted. Participants who have slammed talk of military action against Iran, however, have received enthusiastic receptions at the conference.

The president also noted his support for a two-state Mideast peace solution, saying if it was “one state it would be a state of quarrel between two nations — endless.”

“I know that you support the two-state solution and support it very much,” Peres said. “…For peace you have to build, not just negotiate.”