J-Street's bullying tactics cannot be separated from the Obama campaign. One of J-Street's founders is Alan Solomont:

"The definition of what it means to be pro-Israel has come to diverge from pursuing a peace settlement," said Alan Solomont, a prominent Democratic Party fundraiser involved in the initiative. In recent years, he said, "We have heard the voices of neocons, and right-of-center Jewish leaders and Christian evangelicals, and the mainstream views of the American Jewish community have not been heard."

Solomont is also a major fundraiser for - Barack Obama.

Solomont, however, approaches his work not as just helping a candidate but as furthering a cause.

"This is a mission-driven, value-laden enterprise, and I am philosophical about it," he said during an interview in the memorabilia-filled conference room of his office in this Boston suburb.

Throughout the conversation, Solomont emphasized that raising money is a means to an end: getting politicians who share his goals of a more economically and socially just country. He said his work is deeply driven by the Jewish teachings he learned growing up in an observant household in the nearby town of Brookline.

And guess what Solomont used to be?

"The war on poverty created structures for citizen involvement, and my work centered on getting people empowered through collective action,'' he said.

After working as a community organizer Solomont, who has undergraduate degrees in nursing and political science, made his wealth in the nursing home and senior home health care businesses. He now devotes almost all his time to political and philanthropic work.

Solomont says working as an organizer helped him form an instant bond with Obama, who undertook similar efforts in Chicago in the 1980s.

Solomont supports Obama because Obama shares his values.