Bernie Sanders Must Clarify Where He Stands on Israel

Perhaps when his campaigning finally comes to an end, he will have more time on his hands to do some homework on the subject of Israel.

With friends like that who needs enemies.

He is a phony whose only accomplishment was shooting hoops in a Senate Basketball team. His idea of Judaism is Communism, and look at what is happening to Venezuela, USSR, etc. He is the Talmudic destroyer who exists for his own laurels. Let he and his wife get the Order of Lenin in another honeymoon in the USSR, and disappear into oblivion. It is such a shame that he brings to many worthy people.

Sanders HAS clarified his position on Israel, Alan Dershowitz. As a liberal Democrat, you seem unwilling to acknowledge that. Sanders does not "seem to be influenced by leftist organizations" -- he is in total agreement with them and always has been. If you think that Sanders really does like Israel -- he just "yearns for the Israel of the 1960s", you are living on another planet. Would that be 1967 -- the year of the 6-day war which enlarged Israel's territory dramatically and for the first time gave Jews access to the Kotel? I can't imagine that Bernie Sanders and his leftist pals were too happy about that.

If Bernie Sanders could EVER be considered pro-Israel, it would be an Israel which is poor, dirty and where Jews are a persecuted minority -- just as they were in every single Middle Eastern country BEFORE the establishment of Israel.

"Professor" Dershowitz -- it is time to enter reality and call a spade a spade. You just can't bring yourself to break with the "liberals" who, by the way, are not "liberal" at all.

Sanders is the US equivalent of the UK's Jeremy Corbyn, they are both dedicated Socialists so antisemitism runs through and through them like 'Brighton' runs through a stick of seaside rock.

Mr. Dershowitz, you are a much smarter man than I am. What does your gut tell you? Bernie supports the deal made by Obama on Iran. Would he support sanctions if they test missiles?

What's not clear? He hates Israel, is ashamed of being a Jew, a bitter, sanctimonious old man who will never forgive people who have found success or happiness in life. A communist who has learned nothing from history.

All you have to do is look at his employee Zimmerman. Saw a pic of Sanders making an election speech with students for Justice for Palestine standing behind him. He is the enemy from within.

The attitude of any U.S. President to Israel determines the success or failure of that particular Presidency. God's covenant with Abraham decrees this and history demonstrates it. Mr Sanders comes across as an "angry old man", a curmudgeon. If he had proper respect for his own Jewish heritage and the nous to investigate the history of various states' relationship with Israel he would realise the benefits of taking an entirely benign approach to that sovereign state. He would thereby distance himself from the present disastrous Obama policy, a policy that will undoubtedly be continued by Mrs Clinton, who is very pro-Palestinian. This also goes for Mr Trump, the present front running Republican candidate. He has not, as far as I have observed, given unconditional support to Israel. Mr Cruz has. Interesting, very interesting.

I am a stronger supporter of Israel than many US Jews and I am not even Jewish.
Israel is a beacon of civilisation and democracy in a sea of barbarism and Islamic fascism. It is also worth mentioning that Hamas attacked Israel not the other way round and continues to attack and make preparations for the next war. It is making ties also with IS and Al Qauda.
There will never be a settelment of the 'Palestinian situation' as long as Hamas is in charge.

Bernie is fence sitter and will not clarify his position because he will lose votes if he makes a choice, either way. He is playing down the foreign policy issues which should actually disqualify him as a future Commander in Chief because the USA and its allies are under threat by Iran. But he simply will do anything, break any rules, tell any lies, drop any values and morality. He just wants to get power first and then he will do what the current President does, tell all the lies he can to justify an anti-Israel bias that will seek to destroy his own heritage through trying to appease sworn enemies. He needs psychiatric help as does anyone who votes for this senile old man or Hillary Clinton.

There is a war on and the aggressor (Islam) has made clear the intention to conquer and dominate the world. They will not respond to appeasement or diplomacy as they are already winning with Jihad.

Bernie is & was quite deliberate in his demonising Israel. If you make public statements at least get your fact & evidence right, do not pluck lies from the air as gospel truth and come with fake innocence : Oh somebody help me, I muddled up a trivial matter. Hamas gave him full recognition with praise: He is our type of Jew. How can you beat such praise. He vies for US highest position but shows he is also a capable lier a necessary talent. It saddens me that a Jew can help bury Israel.
He is ignorant of Jewish history & plight by boot-licking Israels enemies.

Thank you, Mr Dershowitz. Any rational comment stands out like a beacon of light.

What's there for him to clarify? Sanders is typical of the majority of American Jews who have lost any semblance of their heritage and are defined first and foremost as leftist before any other criteria. This is why American Jews in the majority will still vote Democrat in the November 2016 elections no matter who is the party's nominee. Their generally abysmal knowledge of the Middle East leaves the rest of the Diaspora dumbfounded. Appointing a Marxist to the Presidency will be a disaster for Israel and the world.

Mr Dershowitz needs to clarify why he's always willing to give any anti-Israel Democrat the benefit of the doubt. I recall how, in 2012, Mr Dershowitz encouraged voters to support Obama because was a strong supporter of Israel and would know how to deal with Iran.

I appreciate and admire all Mr Desrshowitz has done to help Israel's cause, but clearly in a choice between the Democratic Party and Israel, the Party comes first.

His guesstimate on the numbers killed "indiscriminately" by the Israelis in Gaza was not only an error of massive proportions but it is proof that this man ought not stand for high office. He does not do his homework before opening his mouth.

With all the Jew hating Muslims and Christians, one more Jew hating Jew is just what we need. Like a luch in kuph. Sanders is a disgrace to all of us. He wouldn't know a hard days work if it bit him. He has never had a job in his entire life and has lived off of our tax money his entire life. Sherlock Holmes he will never be. He hasn't a clue.

Sanders does not come across as a world president (candidate). He makes many mistakes. This is an important world subject and he belittles it. I feel that he is too old to be our president. He should be going to some history & current events classes for lessons on what is going on. Attend some senior classes at UVM.

Who cares what his stance is on Israel? Who cares what his thoughts are on anything? Who in their right mind would consider voting for such a disaster of a character? I find my breakfast coming back up if I watch him for more than 15 seconds. The frightening and depressing thing here is the fact that he actually has some American followers. Couldn't these be identified and deported along with all the illegals that President Trump will deport?

I'm saddened and shocked at Bernie's stance on Israel. Really. His advisors are left wing cranks that are anti-Israel and they spread lies and disinformation. Really, after giving Bernie money I am withdrawing my support and will not vote for him if he does not withdraw his false accusations and get with the truth of the situation. I'd rather vote for Hillary who at least calls a spade a spade and obtains the truth from study and observation rather than allowing notoriously Israel haters (and Liars) to dictate to falsely lead Senator Sanders.
Shalom Bernie. You will love the Jewish vote and all sensible thinking persons because of your nasty false and malicious lies about Israel.

Are any of Jews for Bernie aware that he has the very worst anti-Israel record of anyone in Congress EVER ? He does not deserve one Jewish vote or any Democratic vote. His antipathy toward the Jewish State contrasts sharply with the pro Israel views expressed by his presidential foes
on both sides of the aisle. Chaim Herzog wrote in his book that the best presidents for Israel have been Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.

In addition to Bernie's many votes against Israel, he also has a number of anti Israel advisors, including James Zogby who has accused the Jewish state of committing a "Holocaust" against the Palestinians and has referred to Israelis as "Nazis." He has also described sitting members of Congress as "Israel firsters," an anti-Semitic trope that implies dual loyalty to the Jewish state.

Bernie was one of 21 of 100 Senators not to sign on as a co-sponsor to Senate Resolution 498 which expressed support for Israel as it defends itself
against unprovoked rocket attacks from Hamas. He described Israel's Operation Protective Edge in Gaza as " an over reaction" as Israel was protecting itself from Hamas rockets.

He was the first Senator to announce that he would boycott Netanyahu's speech to Congress. He called the speech "opportunistic."

Back in the 70s he called for denying weapons to Israel before the Yom Kippur War when Israel was attacked by Arab states. He also called for "aggressive normalization" with the terror state of Iran at the Democratic debate.

He was the only Jewish member of Congress not to back a House resolution condemning the Palestinians and expressing solidarity with Israel after 2
Palestinian attacks killed dozens. He voted present and the measure passed 384-11. Over the years, he joined the worst anti-Semitic bigots in
Congress. He should be ashamed of himself.

He also tapped several critics of Israel to advise him on foreign policy, including one who has compared Israelis to "Nazis" and accused them of waging "a Holocaust."

He disclosed that his top foreign policy advisers include J Street, a dovish Middle East advocacy group that backs some of Congress' most vocal critics of Israel, and including former assistant Secretary of Defense Larry Korb,and James Zogby, an Israel detractor who heads the Arab American Institute and who is the one who compared Israelis to " Nazis".

The inclusion of these advisers in his campaign, which has already come under fire for ignoring prominent Jewish-American political organizations, has prompted speculation from some that he will pursue anti-Israel foreign policy priorities if he becomes President.

"Bernie seems to care very little about foreign policy, and so his views are shaped inordinately by advisers," said Noah Pollak, executive director of
the Emergency Committee for Israel, an advocacy organization. "And now we know who those advisers are. Two of them—Zogby and J Street—are leading anti-Israel apologists for terrorism. By his association with these extremist groups, Bernie fails the commander-in-chief test."

A majority of voters, including Jewish ones, tend to pick a president who pursues policies supportive of the Jewish state, according to numerous
polls. With wars still raging in the Middle East and the issue of Iran's nuclear program still dominating the headlines, foreign policy and support
for Israel could factor even more heavily into the 2016 election.

Bernie Sanders is a shameful Jew and a shameful American. He brings to mind words from Mark 8:36- For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul, and there is no way he could or should win the Democratic nomination for President.

While Bernie Sanders might consider himself a friend of Israel, his comments, particularly those on the number of Palestinians killed by Israel in the 2014 Gaza war, seem to belie his position. Given his length of time in office, one would think that by now he would have a reasonably clear picture of Israel and the problems that beset the country. That, however, does not seem to be the case. His comments of 10,000 Palestinians killed by the IDF show a great deal of ignorance on his part. His criticism of building in Judea and Samaria also show his lack of knowledge about the situation. Judea and Samaria are disputed land according to UN resolution 242. Neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis have full claim to it and both have always lived there. It seems to me that Bernie Sander's problem is trying to keep all his supporters happy. Since they are mainly of the left, many of them are anti-Israel and he feels the need to placate them or lose them. It's time he took a stand and spoke honestly. If he is truly a friend of Israel he must stop maligning the country and show his support for the only democracy, the only country where people can live a free and equal existence, in the Middle East.

The truth is Bernie Sanders does not consider Israel to be of importance except as it influences voters in this election. Hie seems to be very uneducated as to the context and history of the conflict there. His choice of the people advising him have certainly not given him an unbiased perspective. I dare him to address this!

With all respect to Mr. Dershowitz, whom I admire, I have to disagree with his conclusions. He seems willing to accept the notion that Mr. Sanders' so-called errors are just a matter of his being misinformed, and accepts the seeming retraction of those statements (despite Mr. Sanders making another similar mistake even after that interview). While I agree that the confusion regarding the numbers is not the most crucial aspect of the situation, I think that it shows a predilection to believe the worst about Israel, and perhaps even to go beyond what the worst is reported as being.

Sanders' willingness to grossly inflate the figures and to ignore statements by military experts about the ways in which Israeli tactics are designed to avoid civilian casualties show a man who is trying to prove that he is not being swayed by his connection to the "tribe". Once someone takes such a stance, in effect choosing to disown something about themselves, it is a slippery slope, and the aides and advisors who are chosen to prove one's stance will only work to push one to go even further along the path.

If Mr. Sanders is indeed opposed to BDS, why is a pro-BDS advocate representing him publicly? If he is willing to condemn Hamas, where are his condemnations of Fatah and the Palestinian Authority for their campaign of incitement and violence? While both UN Resolution 242 and the Oslo Accords are based on the idea that the final borders will need to be defined, Mr. Sanders does not acknowledge that as fact. Instead, he equivocates, "If the expansion was illegal, moving into territory that was not their territory, I think withdrawal from those territories is appropriate." He has clearly stated that Israel's relationship to the US, and the aid it receives, should be tied to its "relationship" with the Palestinian Arabs, as if the Arabs have done nothing to be difficult or divisive.

From what Mr. Sanders has been saying, it is clear that he quite specifically does not want to be unambiguous about where his support for Israel starts and stops. While his more defined statements clearly show a tendency to organize his perception of Israel and Israeli actions in a negative manner, he insists that he supports Israel and recognizes its need to defend itself. It seems to me that he has already taken a stand by refusing to take one.

Israelis seem to need confirmation from Sanders as to his commitment to the continued existence of Israel. In America we already know he's more Palestinian than Israeli. As surely as 1 + 1 + 1 = 3, Progressive + a line of supporters wearing "Students For Justice In Palestine" shirts standing in a front row behind his podium at a speech + having no concern for accuracy in his bias against Operation Protective Edge = Anti-Israel. Bernie, like the Palestinians, don't answer to accountability or to facts, but rather argumentum ad populum to their base. Voting for Sanders because he's ethnically Jewish is about as nonsensical as Blacks voting for Obama because he's ethnically half Black.

My political/social leanings have led me to support Senator Sanders EXCEPT on his ambiguous, undocumented opinions expressed concerning Israel and the Palestinians. As Professor Dershowitz has always done better than anyone, he has laid out the facts of history. From the time I met Professor Dershowitz in 1971 (he and I were a lot younger), I have appreciated his keen mind and good judgement.

Everyone needs to read this article! Also, read Professor Dershowitz's surprisingly slim but densely-packed volume, "The Case for Israel." That's all one needs!

A young woman named Zimmerman who has been an outspoken anti-Israeli "occupation" activist and BDS'er is heading the team for Bernie the Red on these issues. Bernie is offering guesstimates that have already been proven false but only continue to be used as valid by radical anti-Israel groups and Islamist radical organizations like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood terrorists.

When asked who Oren was he didn't have a clue about that either, for all Bernie knew it was the capital of Oman.

The fact is he doesn't care, he is an old guard socialist and ideology is what he puts faith in, in the ideological paradigm of socialism "facts are the enemy of truth.". The man is a fool and would pipe his followers to the river where they will gladly volunteer to jump in and drown after pulling or pushing as many others in as they can.

What do you mean "Where he stands on Israel"? He stands firmly on HAMAS/PLO/Muslim Brotherhood/Iran position: "Zionist construct must be destroyed".

He is a Jew and anti-Israel mainly to please people who hate Israel, and thus he is disgrace to all of us. God help us if he should become the president, he needs his head examined and spend some time in a mental hospital.

Simone Zimmerman, Sanders' "Jewish Outreach" person, is not merely a critic of Israel. She supports BDS, whose leaders openly say they want for Israel not to exist.

For a snake in the grass to call themselves "pro-Israel," but then not to support the country's right to defend itself against groups such as Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyr Brigades is not a pro-Israel position.

Additionally, and crucially, Alan M. Dershowitz forgets to mention that in his interview with the New York Daily News, Sanders said that "to the extent that they" -- meaning Israel -- "want a good relationship with the United States, they are going to have to improve their relationship with the Palestinians."

Why is that so objectionable? At the beginning of recent months and months of the stabbing jihad against Israel, Abbas made Arabic videos saying "We welcome every drop of blood spilled" and calling the stabbers martyrs who will be rewarded by Allah in heaven. Not coincidentally, the same hate speech one finds in the Palestinian Authority's elementary school children's books.

So, for Sanders to issue the hostile ultimatum against Israel, would be like an American politician telling Iraqis that to the extent they want a good relationship with the U.S., they have to improve their relationship with ISIS.

And I add, that Sanders didn't attend AIPAC but is running off enthusiastically to get near the Pope. What does that tell us?

In his written remarks that would have been his AIPAC speech, had he gone there, Sanders says that he believes that were he president, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, al-Aqsa Martyr Brigade, Fatah, Hezbollah et cetera will "rise to the occasion" for peace. That's his strategy. "Believing" that those groups will "rise to the occasion."

He's a dangerous fool who has injected toxic ignorance about Israel into the campaign.

It's been mentioned time and time again, but if the Palestinians were to stop attacking innocent Israelis with rockets, maybe, just maybe the retaliatory attacks by Israel on the Palestinians would also stop! However, that appears to be too easy for the Palestinians in particular, to grasp. But then, threats have been made to kill all Israelis by the Palestinians. Until the attacks and threats stop there will always be conflict. Maybe all these Jew haters popping up in western society ought to convey this to the Palestinians, instead of turning a blind eye and accusing Israel of always being the aggressor! Even the ordinary man on the street will fight if he gets attacked. The Israelis are being attacked in their own country and have every right to respond accordingly. But as for the number of casualties involved, that's always exaggerated in order to gain sympathy from people thousands of miles away, who don't witness reality themselves. Sanders and his ilk should shut up and criticise the real culprits!

People suffer from selective consciousness. They refuse to see the side of things Bernie is looking at. If you live and breath war you must pick a side and be called patriot or traitor. But if you want any of these issues resolved and are willing to listen to all sides, suddenly you must clarify where you stand. The proponents of perpetual warfare demand such clarification. That why nothing is or will ever be resolved. I think the whole world is beginning to see the real problem. That's why Bernie has to clarify himself to you. He's already perfectly clear to me and millions of people world wide.

You refer here to the nonsensical name, the West Bank, where the real name of that geographic region is Judea and Samaria. The West Bank is a name given by the Jordanians when they occupied that area and there is no reason to use it. If we refrain from calling the area J&S, then we perpetuate the disconnect between the land and our people. It has nothing to do with whether we will give it up in exchange for true peace -- it has everything to do with our identity and our connection to our indigenous land. I talk about that here: http://www.israeldiaries.com/west-bank-judea-and-samaria-israeli-media/

Alan Dershowitz and all those who attribute to ignorance Bernie Sanders lies and smears about Israel are wrong; Bernie Sanders is a bad Jew who is willing to lie and smear the State of Israel, to preempt any accusations of Jewish dual loyalty and gain votes from radical leftists who are anti-Israel.

I'd only add that Israel engaged in practice known as "Roof Knocking."

This was a deliberate attempt by the IDF to minimize civilian casualties by warning them before an impending attack.

In practice, the Israelis made phone calls to residents in targets and dropped leaflets and low-yield explosives on venues to warn people that an attack was imminent and that they should get out fast. http://tinyurl.com/pchykbs

(The Israelis, of course were criticized because dropping low-yield explosives sometimes caused casualties . . . it seems that the mythical and unachievable "perfect outcome" can still be used to hammer the "very good" outcome.)

It is disgraceful that somebody that ignorant of facts and who is not even embarrassed at showing it, should even contemplate running for President of the United States of America.

Sanders comments are no surprise to me. He is, first and foremost, a Washington politician and that says it all. He will say whatever it takes to win an election, to hell with the truth or with facts. Sheepdog.