Things get partisan at AIPAC conference as US VP takes aim at current Democratic front-runner
“The most pro-Israel president” in the US history must not be replaced by “the most anti-Israel one”, US Vice President Mike Pence told the annual AIPAC conference on Monday.
Pence took a clear jab at Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the current front-runner in the Democratic race for nomination, calling him out on “openly and repeatedly” attacking Israel as “a racist state”.
He also said it was troubling that none of the Democratic candidates challenged Sanders on the stage during a recent Democratic debate “when Bernie Sanders smeared Israel”.
He also praised President Trump’s record on Israel, including moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and the announcement that Israeli settlements in the West Bank will no longer be seen by the US as illegal under the international law as such.
Earlier, Israel’s caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political arch-rival Benny Gantz also addressed the conference ahead of Israel’s vote on March 2.
On the US side, the timing was also sensitive, as the conference came ahead of the Super Tuesday, with the stage set for a clash between Sanders, the current front-runner, and Joe Biden, whose campaign was revitalized with a solid performance in South Carolina.
Nevertheless, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Biden and Michael Bloomberg are on the speaker’s list, delivering their speeches in video messages.
AIPAC has traditionally worked as a bipartisan platform, but in the recent months, it was forced to apologize over a contentions Facebook ad jabbing at “radicals” among Democrats seeking to sabotage the US-Israeli ties.
Content retrieved from: https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/americas/1583173508-pence-to-aipac-most-pro-israeli-us-president-must-not-be-replaced-by-most-anti-israel-one?fbclid=IwAR3LaBkSU704GDlncp8biH4wsbtdIwBiSsceao8ZXx26r4xtYdZmqob8lDc.
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