U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman has set off a firestorm with his declaration Republicans are better friends to Israel than Democrats.
In an interview with the Times of Israel on Wednesday, Friedman criticized Democrats for failing to mobilize support in the party to support.
"The argument that I hear from some Democrats that Republicans are seizing the pro-Israel mantle is true, to a certain extent," he said in the interview. "There's no question Republicans support Israel more than Democrats."
"What the Democrats are not doing is looking at themselves critically and acknowledging the fact that they have not been able to create support within their constituency for Israel at the same levels that the Republicans have," he added, asserting: "They have to acknowledge it, and they have to fix it, or try to fix it."
A group of Jewish Democrats slammed the remarks Thursday as "politically divisive" and "damaging," the news outlet reported.
"It is truly unprecedented for a sitting U.S. Ambassador to Israel to engage in explicitly partisan rhetoric and behavior," former Rep. Ron Klein, D-Fla., who chairs the Jewish Democratic Council of America, told the Times of Israel. "Amb. Friedman must remember that he is not the head of the Republican National Committee or the Republican Jewish Coalition political organization."
Klein said Friedman represents all Americans.
"Amb. Friedman should spend more time cultivating the historically bipartisan nature of the U.S.-Israel partnership, as opposed to being politically divisive in his words and actions, including his refusal to invite Democratic members of Congress to the Jerusalem embassy opening," Klein said. "This type of partisan behavior is damaging to our national interests and must stop immediately."
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