Top Israeli Official Blasts Bernie Sanders for 'Horrifying Comment' During Democratic Debate
Israel’s foreign minister denounced Bernie Sanders on Wednesday for what the Democratic front-runner’s “horrifying comment” about Jerusalem, saying that those who support Israel would not back Sanders’ presidential candidacy after such remarks.
At a contentious Democratic debate on Tuesday night in South Carolina, the socialist Vermont senator labeled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “reactionary racist” and said he’d consider reversing President Donald Trump’s move of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said there was a not a Jew in the world who “hasn’t dreamed of Jerusalem” and Sanders’ words were so severe that he had no choice but to retort.
“We don’t intervene in the internal American electoral process, which is splendid,” Katz told Israel’s Army Radio, before noting that Sanders had a long history of attacking Israel and the things most sacred to its identity and national security.
“Naturally, people who support Israel will not support someone who goes against these things,” he added.
Sanders’ comments at the debate came after he recently announced he would skip an appearance at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, calling the pro-Israel lobby a “platform for bigotry.”
AIPAC, in turn, condemned the senator’s “odious attack.”
Senator Sanders has never attended our conference and that is evident from his outrageous comment.
Full statement: https://t.co/XDcNKhYXSq pic.twitter.com/aJGJiv2wv8
— AIPAC (@AIPAC) February 24, 2020
Sanders also has called for cutting back American foreign aid to Israel and redirecting it to the Palestinians instead.
The senator, who if elected would become America’s first Jewish president, doubled down Tuesday, saying: “What you cannot ignore is the suffering of the Palestinian people.”
Sanders prefaced his remarks by saying he was “very proud of being Jewish,” and noted how he had volunteered in the 1960s on a socialist Israeli kibbutz, where he honed his leftist leanings.
However, he then said that “right now, sadly, tragically, Israel has a reactionary racist who is now running that country.”
His harsh criticism of modern-day Israeli policies, and embrace of supporters who have called for a boycott of Israel, has raised great concerns in the Jewish state about his surging candidacy. Pro-Israel advocates have pointed to anti-Semitic remarks by some of Sanders’ prominent supporters.
Sanders has firmly established himself in the lead after scoring primary and caucus victories in the first three nominating states: Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
Yair Lapid, a leading opposition figure who aims to replace Katz as foreign minister after next week’s Israeli election, said in a recent TV interview that he was “very worried” about Sanders’ rise because of his “lack of understanding of our unique situation in the Middle East.”
While the majority of American Jews vote Democrat, in Israel, Trump has been warmly embraced by Netanyahu and his allies.
The president has remained very popular in Israel for backing it in a hostile region and delivering it a string of diplomatic achievements.
Last month, Trump unveiled his much-anticipated Mideast plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It sided with Israel on most of its core demands and granted it sovereignty over large parts of the West Bank that the Palestinians seek for a future state.
Previously, Trump reversed decades of American foreign policy by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving its embassy there.
Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, another Jewish candidate seeking the Democratic nomination, said at Tuesday’s debate that it was too late to reverse the embassy move and people should instead focus on advancing a two-state solution.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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