In a highly unusual move, the pro-Israeli lobby AIPAC today denounced the deal pushed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a united ultra right-wing party that will run in the April 9 elections, which would pave the way for Jewish supremacists from the "Jewish Power" party to make it into the next Knesset.
Details: In a tweet on its official account, AIPAC wrote: "We agree with AJC (The American Jewish Committee who also denounced the deal). AIPAC has a longstanding policy not to meet with members of this racist and reprehensible party." Netanyahu's deal with "Jewish Power" is an unprecedented development in Israel's history and is equivalent to a U.S. president cutting a political deal with former KKK leader David Duke.
Why it matters: The AIPAC tweet is a big deal. It is a rare case of the Pro-Israeli lobby criticizing the prime minister of Israel. It is even more rare that this criticism is about a political move during an election campaign. The AIPAC tweet comes a month before Netanyahu is supposed to be the keynote speaker at the organization's annual policy conference.
- The tweet comes after several pro-Israeli organizations denounced the deal pushed by Netanyahu to get the Jewish supremacists into the Knesset.
The American Jewish Committee said in a statement:
Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of ADL, tweeted:
Go deeper: Netanyahu boosts racist far-right party with pre-election deal
