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Months ago, President Biden nominated longtime Democrat donor Elizabeth Frawley Bagley to serve as ambassador to Brazil. At her confirmation hearing in May, she faced bipartisan condemnation for a 1998 interview in which she claimed that Democrats entertained “stupid” pro-Israel viewpoints because of “the Jewish factor” and echoed old antisemitic tropes, saying, “There is always the influence of the Jewish lobby because there is major money involved.”
The ZOA opposed her nomination and noted that Bagley was among “a long list of President Biden’s antisemitic and Israelophobic nominees and appointees,” which ZOA has documented. Her nomination was tabled at the time, but now, the same week as the performative White House roundtable on antisemitism, her nomination has been returned to the Senate calendar so Senate leaders can bring it up for a vote, before the end of the year.
Zionist Organization of America President Morton A. Klein stated, “The ZOA calls on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer not to put this nomination forward. In June I said, ‘Bagley’s antisemitic tirade, language and attitude was horrifying,’ and that hasn’t changed. Putting this nomination back on the calendar shows exactly how fraudulent the White House roundtable was. President Biden can’t condemn antisemitism one day then seek to put anti-Israel Jew-haters in positions of power the next.
“For example,” Klein continued, “President Biden recently elevated Special Envoy to the Palestinians Hady Amr, a man who wrote that he ‘was inspired by the Palestinian intifada,’ the terror wars in which Palestinian Arab terrorists murdered or maimed 10,000 Jews. Deputy Director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs Reema Dodin has explained away suicide bombings including the September 11 attacks. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre has written that ‘Israel may have committed war crimes,’ and previously worked for Moveon.org, an organization that supports vicious Jew-haters Linda Sarsour, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar, as well as the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel. Biden’s Senior Director for Intelligence on the National Security Council, Maher Bitar, also supports BDS and he hosted a conference where speakers endorsed Islamic terrorism. President Biden can tweet against antisemitism, but his hostile-to-the Jewish State appointments tell a different story.”
ZOA Director of Government Relations Dan Pollak added, “The need to reject Jew-hating nominees is even more pressing than it was when ZOA first opposed Ms. Bagley in May. Senators Menendez (D-NJ) and Cardin (D-MD) both raised concerns about her antisemitic words at her hearing. All members of the Senate have a responsibility equal to the President’s to keep Jew-haters out of positions of responsibility. There are already too many people with appalling histories of hatred against Jews and Israel in the Biden administration. The ZOA urges every Senator to oppose this nomination in committee as well as on the floor. Excusing Jew-hating comments should never be a partisan exercise.”
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