From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Rivlin calls Pelosi to say Israel doesn’t want to be anyone’s partisan football
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAs Israel steadily transforms into a favorite partisan bludgeon in America’s domestic politics, President Reuven Rivlin calls the top elected Democrat in America, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, mostly to assure her that Israel does not actually want to be friends with one side at the expense of the other.
The President’s Residence statement says Rivlin’s call comes “against the backdrop of recent events.” He tells Pelosi: “The relationship between the State of Israel and the United States is a link between peoples, which relies on historical ties, deep and strong friendships and shared values that are not dependent on the relationship with one particular party.”
The two discussed the “recent sequence of events,” the statement adds, apparently a reference to the Netanyahu government’s ban of Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, or possibly President Donald Trump’s latest tweet suggesting that Jews who vote Democrat are “disloyal” to Israel — there are numerous such events to choose from in recent days.
“I want to thank you for your unqualified commitment to US-Israel relations and for being a true friend,” the president says.
Rivlin even quotes Kennedy: “Friendship with Israel is not a partisan matter. It is a national commitment.”
“We must keep the State of Israel above [partisan] political disputes and make every effort to ensure that support for Israel does not become a [partisan] political issue. The elections we [both] hold give voice to the will of our citizens. We agree with the opinions of some, we speak out against the opinions of others, but we respect the wishes of each of our peoples,” Rivlin adds.
The Times of Israel Community.