NEW YORK: Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders, has said that if elected president, he would consider moving the US embassy in Israel back to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem.
But, Sen. Sanders, the Democratic frontrunner, did not commit to making the change during Tuesday night’s debate, the last one in February, in Charleston, South Carolina.
“The answer is it’s something we would take into consideration,” he said, when a journalist, noting that Sen Sanders would be the first-ever Jewish president, asked what he would say to American Jews who think he is not supportive enough of Israel. The questioner also asked: “Specifically, sir, would you move the US embassy back to Tel Aviv?”
He said he was “very proud of being Jewish,” but also that “you cannot ignore the suffering of the Palestinian people.”
Sanders, 78, who describes himself as a democratic socialist, went on to call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a reactionary racist.”
“Here’s the point, I am very proud of being Jewish. I actually lived in Israel for some months. But what I happen to believe is that right now sadly, tragically in Israel through Bibi Netanyahu, you have a reactionary racist who is now running that country,” he added.
“We have got to have a policy that reaches out to the Palestinians and the Americans,” Sanders added.
Former New York Mayor Bloomberg, who is also seeking Democratic presidential nomination, meanwhile, said he wouldn’t move the embassy.
“You can’t move the embassy back,” Bloomberg, 78, said. “It was done, and you will have to leave it there.”
If either Bloomberg or Sanders are elected, they would be the first Jewish president in American history.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, also asked about the embassy, said moving it back wasn’t up to the US.
“We should let the parties determine the capitals themselves,” she said.
US President Donald Trump relocated the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018, months after recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a decision which angered the Palestinians and many countries around the world. On his part, Sanders has also taken clear positions in support of the struggle of Kashmiris and Palestinians for their unalienable rights.–Agencies
