Rabbi Shmuley: Sanders Wants to Bern Israel

When it comes to the world’s one and only Jewish state, Israel is really “feeling the Bern.” And not in a good way.How ironic is it that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who could conceivably become the first Jewish president, seems to despise the homeland of the Jewish people, the democratically elected government of Israel, and the organization — AIPAC — most conspicuously devoted to strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship?How dangerous would Sanders be to the welfare of Israel if elected? After Israel went through the pain of the 2005 “disengagement” from Gaza and being rewarded – yet again this week – with a barrage of rockets, including one that hit a children’s playground, the people of Israel are not willing to make more territorial concessions for terror.A majority of Israelis oppose the creation of a Palestinian state (as do most Palestinians) and, while Sanders may not like Netanyahu’s policies toward the Palestinians, his rival in next month’s election promises to pursue a similar course.Sanders’ repeated attacks on Netanyahu and accusations that he is a “racist” are disgusting, especially coming from a man who praises Fidel Castro. He also doesn’t say what he proposes to do with the 700,000 Jews who live on land the Palestinians claim as their own and which they pledge to make judenrein.Sanders wants to restore funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which corruptly perpetuates Palestinian “refugees,” and to the Palestinian Authority, which uses American taxpayer dollars to pay terrorists in Israeli jails and the families of suicide bombers.He claims Palestinian refugees have a right to return to their homes knowing every Israeli leader opposes this because it amounts to a suicide pact.“We cannot continue to ignore the needs of the Palestinian people,” Sanders says, while blasting Trump’s peace plan — which includes a detailed program for economic development for the Palestinians.Perhaps more dangerous is Sanders’s views on Iran. In fact, all the Democratic candidates have expressed concerns, but none has shown such outright hostility toward Israel, its supporters, and the concerns of the Jewish people.Perhaps it’s time for Bernie to go and speak to his big brother Larry about the amazing Shabbat dinners we had with thousands of Jewish and non-Jewish students at Oxford, about the majesty of the Jewish faith, and about the incredible bastion of human rights that the Jewish people have created in the world’s most tyrannical region.Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, whom the Washington Post calls “the most famous Rabbi in America,” is the international best-selling author of 33 books, including the upcoming Holocaust Holiday: One Family’s Descent into Genocide Memory Hell.