Vice President Mike Pence slammed Sen. Bernie Sanders for his decision to boycott the high-profile conference of a top pro-Israel lobbying group.
Addressing attendees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference on Monday, Pence described Sanders, a top candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, as being no friend of Israel.
“It is wrong to boycott and slander AIPAC,” Pence said. “And I say from my heart, in the days ahead, we must ensure the most pro-Israel president in history must not be replaced by one who would be the most anti-Israel president in the history of this nation.”
Sanders, who is Jewish, announced his plans not to attend the conference last month, arguing that AIPAC provides a platform “for leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights. For that reason, I will not attend their conference.”
AIPAC rebuked the Vermont senator’s accusation.
“Senator Sanders has never attended our conference, and that is evident from his outrageous comment,” the group’s statement said. “Senator Sanders is insulting his very own colleagues and the millions of Americans who stand with Israel. Truly shameful.”
“Today, the leading candidate for the presidential nomination of the party of Harry S. Truman openly and repeatedly attacks Israel as a racist state and defames AIPAC as, of all things, as he said, a … platform for bigotry,” Pence said.
“Gathered here with each one of you, friends of Israel from all over this country, Republicans, Democrats, independents, Jews and Christians, liberals and conservatives, if we can agree on one thing, it should be this: Those who side with Israel’s enemies must never be allowed to call themselves friends of Israel,” Pence added.
Former New York City Mayor and presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg also took shots at Sanders for skipping AIPAC.
“Unfortunately, not all of my fellow Democrats in this race have attended an AIPAC conference. One of them, Sen. Sanders, has spent 30 years boycotting this event. And, as you’ve heard by now, he called AIPAC a racist platform,” Bloomberg said. “Well, let me tell you, he’s dead wrong.”
