A statement by the pro-Israel lobby in the United States, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), endorsing Republican lawmakers who voted to overturn the 2020 elections as long as they support Israel drew strong rebuke.
“So…AIPAC is now endorsing and donating to Republicans who voted to overturn the US election on Jan 6th because, according to their statement, it’s more OK to dismantle US democracy than it is to question if US tax dollars should fund detention and abuse of Palestinian kids. Got it,” said US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a tweet in reaction to the AIPAC statement.
“Lengthy AIPAC defense for endorsing Republicans who voted against certifying election for Biden: ‘We can never let the things that divide Americans politically determine whether the United States will support Israel. We must be willing to stand with those who stand with Israel’,” tweeted Jacob Kornbluh, senior political reporter at The Forward, a leading Jewish news source.
Beth Miller, senior governments affairs manager with the Jewish Voice for Peace, also wrote: “That’s AIPAC summed up! AIPAC’s core goal is to maintain unquestioning US support for Israeli apartheid and the systematic denial of Palestinians’ most basic human rights because Palestinians pose a ‘demographic threat’. AIPAC has always been an anti-democratic institution.”
World-renowned linguist, Noam Chomsky, tweeted addressing AIPAC: “Way to de-legitimize your organization.”
In its statement, AIPAC said: “We have friends in Congress who are skeptical of foreign aid for any nation – except for Israel. We have friends who are pro-choice and pro-life, those who are liberal on immigration and those who want to tighten our borders, and yes, those who disagree strongly on issues surrounding the 2020 presidential election. These disagreements are not minor. They are, in many respects, critical to the future of America. But they do not determine the fate of America’s enduring commitment to the State of Israel.”
It added: “When we launched our political action committee last year, we decided that we would base decisions about political contributions on only one thing: whether a political candidate supports the U.S.-Israel relationship. Not on any other issue – just this one. Why are we so single-minded? Because no one else is…. We will pool our energy, resources, and support behind candidates on one single issue, regardless of any other priority.”
AIPAC’s president, Betsy Berns Korn, and its chief executive officer, Howard Kohr, who wrote the statement, applauded last week’s approval by the US Congress of a $4.8 billion security package for Israel.
“Just last week, the Senate, which is divided 50-50 by party and on virtually every major issue, approved a $4.8 billion security package for Israel – the largest funding package in Israel’s history. This is no moment for the pro-Israel movement to become selective about its friends,” they wrote.
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