Jewish Journal
Aaron Bandler
10/21/2019
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said on Oct. 19 that all options will be considered to leverage Israel from ramping up settlement buildings in the West Bank, including cutting aid to the Jewish State, The Hill reports.
A reporter asked Warren during a campaign event if the 2020 presidential candidate would “make aid to Israel conditional on freezing settlements.” Warren replied, “Right now, Netanyahu says he is going to take Israel in a direction of increasing settlements; that does not move us toward a two-state solution. It is the official policy of the United States of America to support a two-state solution, and if Israel is moving in the opposite direction, then everything is on the table.”
Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action Agenda at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Rabbi Abraham Cooper said in a statement to the Journal, “Over 9 million citizens are enjoying full rights in the democratic, Jewish state including near 20 percent who are Arabs. Palestinians and their corrupt pay-to slay [Palestinian Authority] and genocide-seeking Hamas are responsible for no peace – not Israeli civilian communities.”
The Progressive Zionists of California (PZC) similarly said in a statement to the Journal, “There are numerous causes for the lack of a just security agreement, including settlement construction as well as Iran-funded Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Unfortunately, Senator Warren missed an opportunity to help educate future voters. Threatening alone to cut military aid was insufficient because Israel is not the only obstacle to peace and security in the region.”
In July, Warren told an IfNotNow activist “I’m there” when they urged her to “push the Israeli government to end the occupation.” Jewish groups like the Progressive Zionists of California (PZC) have expressed concern over the Warren campaign’s hiring IfNotNow Co-Founder Max Berger in June, citing his agreement with the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.
Democratic Majority for Israel CEO Mark Mellman told Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) that Warren’s campaign manager, Roger Lau, told him that Berger is not involved in “Israel policy or Jewish outreach.” When JTA asked Mellman what he thought of Lau’s explanation, he replied, “Who candidates choose to put in positions of influence in their campaigns says a lot.”
Read the article here.