200 Jewish leaders back Georgia Senate candidate accused of anti-Semitism

A group of roughly 200 Jewish faith leaders have signed a letter coming to the defense of Georgia Senate candidate Raphael Warnock, who has come under fire in recent weeks over previous criticism of Israel.

“We stand with Rev. Warnock and reject the baseless claims and attacks targeting him amid this Senate election,” the letter reads. Republicans have released attack ads, branding the Democratic candidate in the January 5 run-off as “anti-Israel” and “anti-Semitic.”

Warnock’s critics have pointed to a recently uncovered sermon the reverend gave days after the US ceremoniously opened its embassy in Jerusalem as Palestinians in Gaza marched toward the border in protest of the move.

“We need a two-state solution where all of God’s children can live together,” Warnock said in the sermon. “We saw the government of Israel shoot down unarmed Palestinian sisters and brothers like birds of prey.”

Critics also point to a statement he signed last year that asserted Israel’s “heavy militarization of the West Bank [is] reminiscent of the military occupation of Namibia by apartheid South Africa.”

In their letter in defense of the Democratic candidate, the Jewish faith leaders said, “Rev. Warnock recognizes that being a true friend also means being a truth-teller who does not shy away from hard conversations, and he has made no secret of his strong reservations and concerns over Israeli settlement expansion, which may impede prospects for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

The clergy members go on to highlight Warnock stated opposition to BDS “and its anti-Semitic underpinnings” and support for US military aid to Israel.

“We are also deeply concerned about the possibility that racial bias is driving these false accusations, which we reject in the strongest possible terms,” the faith leaders write in the letter circulated by the Jewish Democratic Council of America.

— Jacob Magid