Spencer Ackerman talked yesterday with Jeremy Ben-Ami, the director of J Street, to find out why his group supports Rep. Howard Berman's Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act.
Critics (including Spencer) think J Street caved to pressure from the right wing of the American Jewish community. But Ben-Ami said sanctions were always the next step if diplomatic engagement failed or stalled.
Final update: The final vote on the anti-Goldstone resolution was 344-36, with 22 people voting "present." The resolution passed.
Just so everyone's clear, this is a non-binding resolution. It urges the president and the secretary of state to keep condemning the report and to block it from reaching the Security Council, the International Criminal Court, and other world bodies. It's a symbolic victory for Israel, but it has no binding legal authority.
We'll post a link to the roll call later tonight so you can see who voted yes or no. Our live-blogging of the debate follows after the jump.
