The Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism calls for Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely to be fired over comments in which she claimed US Jews struggle to understand the Middle East because they lead comfortable lives and don’t perform military service.
“She continues to misuse her role, and in her comments is exacerbating the crisis between Israel and US Jews,” the movement says in a statement.
Appearing Wednesday on i24, an Israel-based English-language news channel, Hotovely addressed rising tensions between Israel and US Jewry, including over restrictions on non-Orthodox prayer at the Western Wall and over the Israeli government’s policies on the Palestinians.
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely attends a ceremony at the Knesset, on November 21, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
During the interview, Hotovely depicted US Jews as being removed from the sacrifices other Americans make, as well as the threats that govern life in Israel.
“People that never send their children to fight for their country — most of the Jews don’t have children serving as soldiers, going to the Marines, going to Afghanistan, or to Iraq. Most of them are having quite convenient lives. They don’t feel how it feels to be attacked by rockets, and I think part of it is to actually experience what Israel is dealing with on a daily basis,” she said.
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Thursday, November 23, 2017
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