Democratic Georgia Senate candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with segregationist George Wallace.
Warnock referred to Netanyahu’s position on a two-state solution as “tantamount to saying occupation today, occupation tomorrow, occupation forever” in reference to an infamous quote from Wallace’s 1963 inauguration speech after being elected governor during a 2016 sermon.
“If you don’t have a Palestinian state, you cannot have a Jewish democracy,” Warnock added. “That state will either be Jewish, or it will be a democracy. It cannot be both.”
Warnock continued: “If you do not have a Palestinian state, you will have to have apartheid in Israel that denies other citizens, sisters and brothers, citizenship.”
A spokesperson from Warnock’s campaign backtracked on the reference to apartheid, saying, “As Reverend Warnock has said and said again yesterday, he does not believe Israel is an apartheid state.”
“Clearly, radical liberal Raphael Warnock has disdain for our ally Israel, while being inexcusably sympathetic to Palestinian terrorists, Communist dictators, and anti-American radicals,” National Republican Senatorial Committee press secretary Nathan Brand told the Washington Examiner in regards to Warnock’s stance on Israel.
Warnock drew criticism earlier this week over a statement he signed in 2019 that used the word “apartheid” several times to describe Israel’s occupation of Palestinian claimed land.
Warnock walked that characterization back during a virtual campaign event Tuesday night, saying, “I do not believe Israel is an ‘apartheid state’ as some have suggested.”
Earlier this week, Warnock received the endorsement of the Democratic Majority for Israel PAC.
“Thank you to my friends at @DemMaj4Israel, Warnock tweeted. “I’m proud to receive your endorsement & I’m grateful for the work you do to support our party’s values. Echoing Dr. King, as senator I’ll stand for Israel’s security & will work to strengthen the alliance between our nations.”
Thank you to my friends at @DemMaj4Israel. I’m proud to receive your endorsement & I’m grateful for the work you do to support our party’s values. Echoing Dr. King, as senator I’ll stand for Israel’s security & will work to strengthen the alliance between our nations. https://t.co/amXY2Vmvmm
— Reverend Raphael Warnock (@ReverendWarnock) December 10, 2020
Warnock, a senior pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church since 2005, has been criticized for other comments he has made during sermons, including a comment calling on Americans to “repent” for supporting President Trump and the “worship of whiteness.”
Warnock is set to face off against Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in a runoff election next month that along with a second Georgia runoff will determine which political party controls the Senate for the next two years.
