Riverdale rep throws Israel under the bus

Riverdale has a large and diverse Jewish population and is home to several Orthodox shuls, Jewish schools, and kosher shopping and dining venues.

What it apparently no longer has is a voice in Congress.

Since Rep. Jamaal Bowman handily defeated 16-term Rep. Eliot Engel last year, Zionist-friendly residents of the 16th Congressional District — which covers Riverdale and the north Bronx as well as Yonkers and such suburban communities as New Rochelle and Scarsdale — have voiced disquiet over Bowman’s affiliation with the Israel-bashing congressional “Squad.”

This week, Rabbi Weiss of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale (The Bayit) and Young Israel of Scarsdale Rabbi Jonathan Morgenstern posted an online petition asking Bowman to “Stop Sponsoring An Act that Endangers Israel and the United States.”

The legislation, introduced by Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota, is titled “Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act.”

“Rather than support this bill that falsely and outrageously demonizes Israel, we would have expected you to raise a voice of moral conscience against this dangerous legislation,” Rabbis Weiss and Morgenstern said in their petition.

“While Israel stands as the lone bastion of freedom for people of all faiths, color, sexual orientation and creeds in the Middle East, you and your co-sponsors ignore these realities and harm its security and ultimately that of the United States.

“We will not remain silent.”

With McCollum’s bill co-sponsored by “Squad” members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, Cori Bush, and Bowman, it’s been given little chance of passage, although its endorsement this week by J Street raised its profile.

In a statement, McCollum asserts that “US assistance intended for Israel’s security must never be used to violate the human rights of Palestinian children, demolish the homes of Palestinian families, or to permanently annex Palestinian lands.”

Bowman maintained, in a statement to the Riverdale Press, that he is “pro-Israel and pro-Palestine. Supporting the security of Israel and the rights of Palestinians are not mutually exclusive; in fact, they are entirely intertwined.”

Bowman said that “support from the US government should be used to address the true security threats faced by Israelis [and not] to entrench the occupation of Palestine, which is counterproductive to achieving peace and a two-state solution.”

This isn’t the first time Rabbi Weiss and Bowman have been at odds. The rabbi’s open letter to the then-congressional candidate last year earned national attention, expressing Weiss’ concern that Bowman’s affiliation with Ocasio-Cortez would result in his turning a blind eye to crimes and abuses perpetrated by the Palestinian Authority.

This year, Rabbi Weiss criticized Bowman over the congressman’s claims that Israel was not doing its part to help Palestinians gain access to the coronavirus vaccine.

At J Street’s virtual national conference on Monday, former Democratic presidential candidates Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren said they were willing to place conditions on the aid Congress has promised Israel.

“In my view, the American people do not want to see that money being used to support policies that violate human rights and treat the Palestinian people as second-class human beings,” Sandrs said.

“By continuing to provide military aid without restriction, we provide no incentive for Israel to adjust course,” Warren said. “The United States cannot stand for security, human rights, and dignity, and at the same moment turn a blind eye to the suffering of Palestinians under Israeli occupation.”

Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, drew a distinction between Sanders and Warren with the rest of the Democratic Party, including others who spoke at the conference.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also spoke at J Street’s two-day conference. Soifer said they “expressed support for the ironclad partnership between the two countries which epitomizes how Democrats view the US-Israel relationship.”

Republican Jewish Coalition executive director Matt Brooks responded that "to advocate, as Sen. Warren does, that the US pressure Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians while the Palestinian Authority condemns Israel’s existence, incites violence against Israel and Jews everywhere, and continues its ‘pay for slay’ salaries to terrorists and their families, is disgusting.”

As a presidential candidate, Warren positioned herself in favor of pressuring Israel. In October 2019, she said, “everything is on the table” if Israel moved away from a two-state solution and in May 2020 was one of 18 senators who signed a letter opposing Israel’s plan to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.

The Riverdale Press and JNS contributed reporting to this story.