On Sunday, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “racist” who does not represent “the true will of the Israeli people or the best interest of the U.S.-Israel relationship.”
“The U.S.-Israel relationship is one of the most important relationships that we have on the planet, and that relationship, if it is to be successful, must transcend partisanship in the United States, and it must be able to transcend a Prime Minister who is racist — as he warns about Arabs coming to the polls — who wants to defy any prospect for peace — as he threatens to annex the West Bank — and who has sided with a far-right racist party in order to maintain his hold on power,” O’Rourke said at a campaign stop in Iowa.
“I don’t think that Benjamin Netanyahu represents the true will of the Israeli people or the best interest of the U.S.-Israel relationship, or any path to peace for the people of the Palestinian Authority, the Gaza Strip, and the state of Israel,” O’Rourke added.
Beto: “The U.S.-Israel relationship… must be able to transcend a Prime Minister who is racist… I don’t think that Benjamin Netanyahu represents the true will of the Israeli people or the best interest of the U.S.-Israel relationship.” pic.twitter.com/jFQ9lpD0TN h/t @AlonPinkas
— Jacob Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) April 7, 2019
The accusation that Netanyahu — the leader of the Jewish state — is racist seems particularly insulting, given the anti-Semitism rife in the Middle East.
President Donald Trump has been a tremendous friend to Israel, moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and supporting Israel’s right to the Golan Heights. O’Rourke and other Democrats campaigning for their party’s 2020 presidential nomination are staking out positions opposite to Trump’s, but in doing so they may risk losing Jewish voters.
The Israeli Embassy in the U.S. did not respond to PJ Media’s request for comment.
Follow Tyler O’Neil, the author of this article, on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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