The Zionist Organization of America accused President Biden of fanning the flames of antisemitism with his claim that Israel was engaging in ‘indiscriminate bombing’ in the Gaza Strip.
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein issued a statement on Thursday saying the pro-Israel group ‘strongly condemns President Joe Biden’s dangerous, indiscriminate remarks on December 12th, falsely accusing Israel of ‘indiscriminate bombing’ in Gaza; criticizing and calling for changing Israel’s democratically elected government; and calling for Israel to ‘strengthen’ and reward the Palestinian Authority (PA) terror regime with a Palestinian Arab state carved out of Israel’s lawful land (a so-called ‘two-state solution’) – while the PA is celebrating the October 7th atrocities, continuing to pay terrorists huge lifetime pensions to murder Jews and insisting that Hamas must be part of a Palestinian state; and the PA’s ruling Fatah party is bragging about its brigades participating in the October 7th atrocities.’
‘Falsely accusing Israel of ‘indiscriminate bombing’ creates more fuel for attacking American Jews. Biden’s widely disseminated, reckless remarks will likely inspire more antisemitism, at a time when American Jews are being attacked on college campuses and American streets at record breaking levels. Even his spokesman John Kirby said no country, including America, does more to protect civilian lives,’ Klein continued. ‘Biden voiced his unjustified criticisms of Israel and his statements interfering with and attempting to undermine Israeli democracy at a closed-door campaign reception on December 12, 2023. Biden’s remarks were then published on the White House website and amplified in media around the world.’
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment, but they did not immediately respond.
According to a transcript shared by the White House, Biden told donors at a campaign reception in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday about recent conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
‘If you think about it, one of the things that Bibi understands, I think, now – but I’m not sure Ben-Gvir and his War Cabinet do, who I’ve spoken to several times – is that Israel’s security can rest on the United States, but right now it has more than the United States. It has the European Union, it has Europe, it has most of the world supporting it. But they’re starting to lose that support by the indiscriminate bombing that takes place,’ Biden said during the reception.
‘It was pointed out to me – I’m being very blunt with you all – it was pointed out to me that – by Bibi – that, ‘Well, you carpet-bombed Germany. You dropped the atom bomb. A lot of civilians died,’’ Biden continued Tuesday. ‘I said, ‘Yeah, that’s why all these institutions were set up after World War Two to see to it that it didn’t happen again – it didn’t happen again. Don’t make the same mistakes we made at 9/11. There was no reason why we had to be in a war in Afghanistan at 9/11. There was no reason why we had to do some of the things we did.’’
Klein pointed to Israel’s ground operation as evidence that the country is not looking to flatten the entire region with bombs.
‘If Israel was in fact engaged in ‘indiscriminate bombing’ in Gaza, Israel would have long ago flattened all of Gaza from the air. Instead, Israel has been making surgical strikes on Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror targets and engaging in dangerous close quarters combat with Hamas and PIJ terrorists, which risks and costs Israeli soldiers’ lives,’ Klein said in part, asking, ‘So why is Biden spouting these anti-Israel falsehoods that will increase attacks against American Jews, increase unwarranted pressure on Israel, and benefit the Hamas and PA terrorists?’
‘If Biden is sincere about supporting our ally Israel, rescuing American and Israeli hostages, stopping attacks on Jews in the U.S. and destroying Hamas, Biden needs to apologize for and stop making false allegations against Israel, the IDF and Israel’s democratically elected government, and stop calling for the strengthening of the PA terror regime,’ he concluded.