Quote of the Day

To be for the Israeli people and to be for peace in the Middle East does not mean that we have to support right-wing, racist governments that currently exist in Israel. What American foreign policy has got to be about in the Middle East is bringing the Israelis, bring the Palestinians together under the banner of justice. We have the wealth to do it. It cannot just simply be that we’re just pro-Israel and we ignore the needs of the Palestinian people. We’ve got to pay attention to both

  -- US Senator, and [leading Democratic?] presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders

I can mostly accept much of what Sanders says and don't disagree. Supporting Israel does not mean supporting any specific party or supporting a specific PM specifically. Working to bring peace does not mean ignoring the Palestinians.

But when he calls the democratically elected government racist and talks about not supporting Israel because of it, that is not supporting Israel. Support for Israel as a potential US president should be regardless of who is leading the Israeli government and what the policies are. That does not mean ignoring the Palestinians, but support for Israel should be regardless of who heads the government. Disagreement of policy does not equal anti-Israel, and does not mean you cannot support Israel. Israel is a democratic state and foreign leadership needs to respect that its leaders and leadership are chosen by the people of Israel and not by who Bernie Sanders or any other candidate prefers.

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