New York Governor Kathy Hochul apologizes for remarks she made at a Jewish philanthropy event in New York City that went viral on social media and which suggested Israel had justification to destroy Gaza following the October 7 Hamas terror attack.
“If Canada someday ever attacked Buffalo, I’m sorry, my friends, there would be no Canada the next day,” Hochul said in a portion of her speech on Thursday at an event for the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York.
“That is a natural reaction. You have a right to defend yourself and to make sure that it never happens again. And that is Israel’s right.”
On Friday, in a statement cited by the New York Times, she says she regrets her “inappropriate analogy” and apologizes for her “poor choice of words.”
“While I have been clear in my support of Israel’s right to self-defense, I have also repeatedly said and continue to believe that Palestinian civilian casualties should be avoided and that more humanitarian aid must go to the people of Gaza,” she says in the statement.
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