Clinton Comes Out Against Anti-Israel Boycott

YERUSHALAYIM

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton refreshed her pro-Israel credentials with a statement spelling out her opposition to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement.

In a letter sent on July 2 to Israeli-American businessman Haim Saban — a major donor and fundraiser for Clinton — she called for combating BDS “with information and advocacy” and to “fight back against further attempts to delegitimize Israel.” If elected, she will always “stand up for Israel,” she pledged.

“From Congress and state legislature to boardrooms and classrooms, we need to engage all people of good faith,” she wrote, in order to explain “why the BDS campaign is counterproductive to the pursuit of peace and harmful to Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

Clinton reaffirmed her support for the two-state solution, and said that it can only be attained through direct negotiations. The BDS approach of seeking to “punish” Israel is counterproductive.

Clinton also said she was concerned by “attempts to compare Israel to South African apartheid,” particularly at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise. Israel, she noted, “is a vibrant democracy in a region dominated by autocracy, and it faces existential threats to its survival.”

The former secretary of state also flourished her record of support for Israel, having opposed “dozens of anti-Israel resolutions at the U.N., the Human Rights Council, and other organizations.”

Saban and billionaire Sheldon Adelson co-hosted a summit in Las Vegas recently that brought together representatives from various Jewish organizations to discuss ways of countering BDS on American campuses.

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