Bernie Sanders would be first front runner to skip AIPAC conference
Which candidate can we expect Jewish voters to back in 2020? Republican Jewish Coalition executive director Matthew Brooks speaks out.
Matt Brooks, the executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, reacted on Tuesday to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ decision to skip the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference next month in Washington, saying “we really run the risk in this election of transitioning from the most pro-Israel president ever” to “the first enemy of Israel ever in the White House.”
Brooks made the comments on “Fox and Friends First” on Tuesday, two days after AIPAC called out Sanders, who appears to be the clear front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, for his decision to miss the conference. Sanders said he would not attend because he claims the group provides a platform for leaders to "express bigotry" and oppose basic Palestinian rights.
“I think that this is part of a long-standing history with Bernie Sanders about his antagonism and hostility not just to Israel, but to the American Jewish community,” Brooks said on Tuesday about Sanders, who is Jewish.
“He has never attended an AIPAC policy conference, whereas many of his colleagues in the Democratic Party have attended in the past,” he noted.
“More troubling is his views on Israel,” Brooks said. “He’s willing to speak to radical progressive left-wing organizations like [liberal Jewish lobbying firm] J Street and others and condemns [Israel’s Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu as being a racist.”
J Street bills itself as the voice for "pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans," and is often critical of Israel's policies in the process.
AIPAC BLASTS SANDERS AFTER 2020 FRONTRUNNER SAYS HE'LL SKIP CONFERENCE
Brooks also said he is troubled by the fact that Sanders has reportedly said “Israel needs to lessen its security with folks in Gaza, which means Hamas.”
“We really run the risk, and the Jewish community understands this, we really run the risk in this election of transitioning from the most pro-Israel president ever in history, and make no mistake about it Donald Trump is absolutely the most pro-Israel president ever in history, transitioning from that to the first enemy of Israel ever in the White House,” Brooks said.
Sanders, who is on the heels of an emphatic win in the Nevada Caucuses, voiced his concern about the influential lobby on Twitter on Sunday. The Vermont senator vowed that, if elected president, he would work with both Israelis and Palestinians to bring peace and stability to the region.
AIPAC wasted little time to respond to Sanders’ public rebuke and called his comments an ill-informed and an "odious attack." The pro-Israel lobby also pointed out that Sanders never attended a conference, which is "evident in the outrageous comment."
"Senator Sanders is insulting his very own colleagues and the millions of Americans who stand with Israel," the statement read. "Truly shameful."
On Tuesday, anchor Rob Schmitt pointed out that “ironically Bernie Sanders is Jewish, he supports a two-state solution to the issue with the Middle East, he was against moving the embassy to Jerusalem and he was for the Iran nuclear deal.”
He then asked Brooks, “So what would he have to say at an AIPAC conference? Would he even fit in if he went?”
“I just think it just shows a willingness to have a dialogue,” Brooks responded. “The fact that he is basically writing off the mainstream sentiment of the American Jewish community by shunning them shows that he’s not really a true inclusive leader.”
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He went on to say that he is “absolutely convinced” and “will guarantee” that whoever Democrats nominate, “President Trump will do significantly better among Jewish voters in 2020 than he did in 2016.”
Fox News’ Edmund DeMarche contributed to this report.
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