U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) is the first Jewish candidate to ever win a major party’s presidential nominating contest in any state, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s Israel’s best friend in the current presidential race.
And now, despite trailing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, he’s pushing for the Democratic National Committee to adopt a platform that will “make Palestinian rights more of a priority.” According to the Washington Post:
Sanders wants revisions in wording about U.S. relations with Israel and commitment to seeking peace between the U.S. ally and the Palestinians while preserving the commitment to Israel’s security, those people said. They requested anonymity to discuss ideas for the platform that are still being developed. The platform is drafted by a Democratic National Committee panel and presented at the party convention in July.
The proposed new language on Israel is expected to seek what Sanders has elsewhere called a more even-handed U.S. approach to Israeli occupation of land Palestinians claim for a future state.
The current platform does not address the nearly five-decade occupation directly but endorses “a just and lasting Israeli-Palestinian accord, producing two states for two peoples.”
Sanders is in a key position, despite his underdog status in the current presidential race, because of a deal brokered last week that gives his campaign surrogates key seats on the party’s platform committee. He’s been pushing for other key elements of his own campaign platform to be included in the party’s platform.
Israelis seem to be paying attention to what is going on in the U.S. presidential race. Despite taking a staunchly pro-Israel position, Clinton, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, is taking a hit over the platform fight.
Although a plurality still think she would be better suited to the presidency than presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, less than one fourth of those polled believe she would be better at fighting Islamist terrorism. According to a Jerusalem Post poll, Trump wins with Israelis on that issue, 38-21.
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