SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — In an interview with The Times of Israel, U.S. Ambassador David Friedman set off a partisan firestorm when he told the news organization that Republicans are better friends to Israel than are Democrats.
“The argument that I hear from some Democrats that Republicans are seizing the pro-Israel mantle is true, to a certain extent,” the ambassador said during an interview published Thursday. “There’s no question Republicans support Israel more than Democrats.”
Further, he said, “What the Democrats are not doing is looking at themselves critically and acknowledging the fact that they have not been able to create support within their constituency for Israel at the same levels that the Republicans have.”
He added in the interview that “there is a large (Democratic) constituency right now that is not pro-Israel. They have to acknowledge it, and they have to fix it, or try to fix it.”
This prompted Ron Klein, chair of the Jewish Dmocratic Council of America (JDCA) to state: “It is truly unprecedented for a sitting U.S. Ambassador to Israel to engage in explicitly partisan rhetoric and behavior. Ambassador Friedman must remember that he is not the head of the Republican National Committee or the Republican Jewish Coalition political organization. He is the U.S. Ambassador, as confirmed by the U.S. Senate, to represent all Americans in Israel – not just those of one party, or those who share his political views. Ambassador Friedman should spend more time cultivating the historically bipartisan nature of the U.S.-Israel partnership, as opposed to being politically divisive in his words and actions.”
U.S. Rep. Nina Lowey, D-New York, also issued a statement: ““The U.S. Ambassador to Israel should know how dangerous it is to make support for Israel a partisan issue. The unbreakable U.S.-Israel relationship is fundamentally grounded in bipartisanship, with both parties sharing a longstanding commitment to Israel’s security and legitimacy. Instead of attempting to create further political divides in Washington, the Ambassador should focus his energy on representing the diplomatic priorities of the U.S.”
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Previous story culled from Times of Israel and press releases.