Klobuchar first presidential candidate to criticize extreme-right Israeli party
Minnesota senator, who is considered closely aligned with AIPAC, says deal to bring Kahanist Otzma Yehudit into Knesset is ‘wrong and has been rightly condemned’
US Senator Amy Klobuchar, an announced candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, cited the American Jewish Committee in condemning a extreme-right Israeli political party.
In a tweet posted Sunday evening, the Minnesota lawmaker included a link to an article about the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, which has roots in the racist anti-Arab views of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane.
“This is wrong and has been rightly condemned. To quote the American Jewish Committee, ‘[The views of Otzma Yehudit] do not reflect the core values that are the very foundation of the State of Israel,’” she tweeted.
Klobuchar did not mention Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who brokered the deal that brought Otzma Yehudit together with the Jewish Home party in an attempt to shore up his right-wing bloc.
This is wrong and has been rightly condemned. To quote the American Jewish Committee, "[The views of Otzma Yehudit] do not reflect the core values that are the very foundation of the State of Israel."https://t.co/r0VMI3FicH
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) February 26, 2019
Klobuchar is the candidate most closely aligned with AIPAC, which has also agreed with the denouncement of the party by the AJC and several other centrist American Jewish groups.
She appeared last March at AIPAC’s annual conference. Netanyahu is scheduled to appear at the conference this year two weeks before Israel’s national elections on April 9.
