US Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2020 presidential election, said the United States should “call out” corruption in Israel under Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, JTA reported.
Warren posted the remark on Twitter on Thursday after Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced that he intends to indict Netanyahu on three counts of criminal abuse of power, pending a hearing.
“Corruption — in Israel, in the US, or anywhere else — is a cancer that threatens democracy. We need to fight back. And we can start by having the courage to call it out wherever it occurs. Even among our allies,” Warren wrote.
“First embracing right-wing extremism. Now manipulating a free press, accepting bribes, and trading government favors,” she charged, accusing Netanyahu of delivering a “cut to the heart of a functioning democracy.”
She was referring to the deal between the Jewish Home and Otzma Yehudit parties, which Netanyahu facilitated ahead of the April elections in Israel. The deal was criticized by AIPAC and also by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who, like Warren, is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.
Warren followed her tweet with a link to a post describing her foreign policy goals of opposing “right-wing demagogues.”
Last April, Warren called on the Israeli government to respect the rights of Palestinian Arab protesters on the Gaza border. The protests, dubbed the “March of the Return”, have been occurring on a weekly basis since March 30 of 2018 and have been orchestrated and encouraged by Hamas.
Warren also voted in favor of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and skipped Netanyahu’s March 2015 speech to Congress in which he spoke out against the agreement.
Shortly after she announced her presidential bid, Warren said that the United States should be pushing Israel and the Palestinian Authority toward a two-state solution.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)