By Justin Wise
March 02, 2020 "Information
Clearing House" -
Israel’s ambassador to
the United Nations on Sunday lambasted Sen.
Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) over the critical
comments he recently made about Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, describing the
presidential candidate as "a liar, an ignorant fool
or both."
Speaking at the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference, Danny Danon offered
a searing rebuke to Sanders for calling Netanyahu a
"reactionary racist," according
to The Times of Israel.
“Whoever calls the prime minister of Israel a
‘racist’ is either a liar, an ignorant fool or
both,” Danon said as he spoke on the first day of
the pro-Israel lobbying group's annual conference.
“We don’t want Sanders at AIPAC. We don’t want him
in Israel.”
Sanders, one of two Jewish candidates running for
president this year, has for years been an outspoken
critic of Israel and some of its policies. He said
last month that he would not attend the AIPAC
conference because the group provided a platform to
“leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic
Palestinian rights.”
Addressing that decision
and his past comments about Israel, Sanders
emphasized during the Democratic debate in South
Carolina that U.S. foreign policy should
"absolutely" work to protect the independence and
security of Israel.
"I'm very proud of being Jewish. I actually lived
in Israel for some months. But what I happen to
believe is that right now, sadly, tragically, in
Israel, through Netanyahu,
you have a reactionary racist who is now running
that country," Sanders said.
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"You cannot ignore the suffering of the
Palestinian people," he added. "We have got to have
a policy that reaches out to the Palestinians."
Israel's foreign minister, Israel Katz, called
the remarks from Sanders "shocking." Netanyahu also
addressed the remarks, saying, "What I think about
this issue is that he is of course wrong, no
question." But he added that he would not intervene
in U.S. elections.
AIPAC was founded in 1963 with a mission of
promoting the U.S.-Israeli relationship. In recent
years, it has faced consistent scrutiny from
progressives over its policy stances and support of
Netanyahu. The organization dismissed Sanders's
criticism ahead of its annual conference, saying
that the senator “has never attended our conference
and that is evident from his outrageous comment.”
“By engaging in such an odious attack on this
mainstream, bipartisan American political event,
Senator Sanders is insulting his very own colleagues
and the millions of Americans who stand with
Israel,” the organization said. “Truly shameful.”
In wake of Danon's comments at the
AIPAC conference, Sanders
was asked on CBS's "Face The Nation" on Sunday
whether he felt there would be a "political cost" to
taking on the pro-Israel lobby.
“Yeah, I do. They have a lot of money,
they have a lot of power," he said, before stressing
that he is not “anti-Israel,” but rather someone who
advocates for a foreign policy “that not only
protects Israel but deals with the suffering of the
Palestinian people as well."
"Source"
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