Sanders: Israel’s Right to Exist in Peace & Security Not Up For Debate

Source: Jewish Insider

Israel’s right to exist in peace and security will be a general recognition by the entire Democratic convention and not be up for debate, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders sought to assure Jewish Democrats and voters concerned about his appointees to the Democratic Party’s Policy Platform Committee.

“I am 100 percent pro Israel in the sense of Israel’s right to exist,” Sanders said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd on Sunday. “I lived in Israel, I have family in Israel, Israel has the right to live not only in peace and security, but to know that their very existence will be protected by the United States government.”

Last week, Sanders appointed three Israel critics, Rep. Keith Ellison, Cornel West and James Zogby, to help draft the party’s platform ahead of the convention in Philadelphia. West, a BDS supporter, and Zogby, a pro-Palestinian activist, have both said they would seek changing the party’s policy on Israel, a policy that shows more sympathy for the Palestinian side of the conflict.

On Meet the Press, Sanders said his view is that the United States “has got to respect the needs of the Palestinian people. They cannot be pushed aside, and “other people can say whatever they want.” When pressed, Sanders wouldn’t indicate what he wants the platform to say other than saying, “We’ve got some good people on our platform-writing committee.”

Read more: http://jewishinsider.com/8150/sanders-israels-right-to-exist-in-peace-security-not-up-for-debate/