ZIONIST ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA

OP-ED

ZOA’s Klein JNS Op-Ed—Top Contender for Biden’s Press Secretary is a Jew-Hating Israelophobe

A Potential Biden Administration Needs to Exercise Care to Assure That Its Appointments Reflect his Promise to be a President for All Americans

By Morton A. Klein, ZOA National President

(November 19, 2020 / JNS) After networks projected that Joe Biden would win the presidential election, he pledged to the American public: “I promise you this: I will be a president for all Americans—whether you voted for me or not.” Biden made the same promise as his central election campaign theme; he reiterated this promise in town halls, debates and social media. Keeping this promise will be essential for America’s well-being.

In order to fulfill his sacred pledge to the country, Biden must appoint administration officials who are amenable to all Americans. Personnel is policy. It was thus deeply concerning to read reports that George Soros-supporting, radical, cancel-culture promoter Karine Jean-Pierre has emerged as the leading contender to serve as Biden’s press secretary. Appointing former Soros’s MoveOn.org spokesperson Jean-Pierre would violate Biden’s repeated key promise to the American people.

When Biden appointed her to serve as chief of staff for California Sen. Kamala Harris’s vice-presidential campaign in August, ZOA described how she advances the “dangerous, Orwellian ‘cancel destruction culture’ ” that falsely condemns and seeks to ostracize pro-Israel groups, even left-leaning ones, as “Islamophobic,” “against human rights,” and unfit to meet with. (See “ZOA to Sen. K. Harris: Fire Your Israel-Hating COS Karine Jean-Pierre, Fmr. Advisor for Soros-Funded MoveOn.org,” August 2020).

For instance:

Jean-Pierre endorsed and helped orchestrate the Democratic presidential candidates’ boycott of the 2020 AIPAC national policy convention—thereby shunning thousands of pro-Israel Americans, including many left-leaning ones. In her Newsweek op-ed in March, Jean-Pierre gloated that “[n]ot one Democratic candidate for president showed” up for the AIPAC convention; bragged that MoveOn.org helped create the Democratic presidential candidates’ anti-AIPAC boycott; and praised the “no-show” Democrats as “boldly choosing to prioritize diplomacy and human rights over the power of a lobbying organization.”

Jean-Pierre’s promotion of “cancel culture” is antithetical to Biden’s promise to be for all Americans.

In her Newsweek op-ed, Jean-Pierre also labeled AIPAC’s rightful opposition to the catastrophic 2015 Iran nuclear deal as “attempts to ruin the Iran deal” and as AIPAC support for an unnamed group that “spread anti-Muslim racism.” Someone who accuses opponents of the Iran deal (the majority of the American public) of supporting anti-Muslim racism is not fit to serve as the press secretary for an administration that vowed to serve all Americans.

In her op-ed, Jean-Pierre also again falsely accused AIPAC of “alarming” Islamophobic rhetoric. “The organization [AIPAC] has become known for trafficking in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab rhetoric while lifting up Islamophobic voices and attitudes.” How can Jean-Pierre possibly serve all Americans when she makes such absurd accusations against AIPAC, an organization that generally leans to the left on key Israeli sovereignty issues (e.g., the Jewish people’s right to live in our historic lands in Judea and Samaria) and delayed supporting the Taylor Force Act?

In the same op-ed, she condemned speakers at the AIPAC conference who appropriately criticized the then-freshman anti-Israel members in Congress—e.g., Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Omar’s “Squad” needs to be condemned if America is to remain a place where anti-Semitism is unacceptable. By taking the side of the anti-Semites, Jean-Pierre revealed that she cannot represent an administration that has promised to be “for all Americans.”

Also in her Newsweek op-ed, Jean-Pierre promoted the blood libel that “Israel may have committed war crimes in its attacks on Gazan protesters.” She thus falsely maligned Israel for ethically defending Israeli citizens against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists bent on invading Israel.

In a November 2019 op-ed in Vogue, Jean-Pierre called the Trump administration “a regime of white supremacy” and promoted the infamous Charlottesville, Va., hoax for saying “very fine people on both sides” of a neo-Nazi-led rally that turned violent. Someone who makes such unfounded accusations against an administration supported by more than 70 million Americans is not an appropriate spokesperson for a president of “all” Americans.

This issue, of course, is larger than the potential appointment of antisemite Karine Jean-Pierre as press secretary. A potential Biden administration needs to exercise great care to assure that its appointments reflect Biden’s foremost promise to be a president for all Americans.

Morton A. Klein is the national president of the Zionist Organization of America.

The original op-ed was published in JNS and can also be viewed on our website.

Founded in 1897, ZOA played a key role in the Jewish State's re-establishment. Today, ZOA is the leading major American Jewish organization courageously defending Israel and the Jewish people; fighting against all forms of antisemitism, including anti-Jewish boycotts; and promoting the Jewish people's lawful right to live in and settle historic Jewish lands. ZOA exposes that a Palestinian state would endanger Israel's existence; presents the facts about the Arab/Islamic war against Israel; and combats the anti-Israel lie that Israel is an "occupier" of her own land. ZOA spearheaded long battles to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and apply civil rights protections to Jewish students. ZOA provides free legal assistance and programs to pro-Israel students at numerous college campuses. ZOA's bold, unapologetic voice has a significant impact on public discourse and policy.

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