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Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:
It is deeply concerning and perplexing that Israeli President Isaac Herzog tweeted on July 7 that Herzog will award President Joe Biden the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor “to thank [Biden] for being a true friend of Israel” and for “decades-long support for Israel's security, deepening our alliance & fighting antisemitism” and anti-Israel bias. This award makes little sense. A “true friend of Israel” and fighter against antisemitism, would not pursue numerous policies undermining Israel’s sovereignty and security that President Biden and his administration are pursuing and would not just ignore, but actually praise antisemites in Congress, and issue a new erroneous anti-Israel report that an Israeli bullet killed an Arab journalist.
Nor would “a true friend of Israel” take advantage of Israel’s caretaker government to make visits to symbolic Palestinian Authority institutions in eastern Jerusalem. Former Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon noted that these Biden visits are unprecedented and were “created to pave the way for the U.S. administration to challenge Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem.”
Ideally, caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Israeli Pres. Herzog should insist that Biden needs to change his anti-Israel policies and combat all forms of antisemitism in the U.S., prior to honoring Pres. Biden with Israel’s medal of honor. At the very least, Lapid and Herzog should insist on President Biden making the policy changes needed to earn this award, promptly after the award is granted.
Unfortunately, instead of meeting Biden with needed strength, Lapid has already made dangerous concessions in preparation for Biden’s visit, including again delaying a scheduled meeting to approve building Jewish homes in E-1 – an area vital for Israel’s security – which connects Jerusalem with Jerusalem suburb Ma’ale Adumim. (See “Fate of E1 Construction Plan Postponed as Israel Gears up for Biden Visit.”)
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