Kapo-rabbis sign letter defending Georgia Senate candidate Raphael Warnock

The Jewish lay leadership in the United States continue to defend and embrace virulent haters of Israel and the Jewish people. Shame on them.

"the same group of apologists who said that we have nothing to worry about people like [Reps.] @Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and @RashidaTlaib (D-MI), who have proven themselves to be the most anti-Israel, pro-BDS members of the House." – @mbrooksrjc https://t.co/Y62fBUCM6D

— RJC (@RJC) November 24, 2020

Rabbis sign letter defending Georgia Senate candidate Raphael Warnock

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The letter references attack ads against Warnock based on a 2018 sermon accusing Israel of shooting down ‘unarmed Palestinian sisters and brothers like birds of prey’

By Jewish Insider, November 24, 2020

A group of nearly 200 rabbis and faith leaders signed a letter defending Rev. Raphael Warnock, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Georgia’s special runoff election, after he came under fire for his past comments, including a 2018 sermon in which the pastor accused Israel of shooting down “unarmed Palestinian sisters and brothers like birds of prey.”

The letter, which was shared exclusively with Jewish Insider ahead of its release on Tuesday, references Republican attack ads against Warnock after video of the sermon began to circulate online. In 2019, as reported last month by JI, Warnock signed his name to a statement likening Israeli control of the West Bank to “previous oppressive regimes” and calling the “heavy militarization of the West Bank, reminiscent of the military occupation of Namibia by apartheid South Africa.”

“As rabbis and religious leaders, we recognize and respect the devotion to his Christian faith that underlies Rev. Raphael Warnock’s strong support for Israel and his partnership with the Jewish people,” reads the letter, spearheaded by the Jewish Democratic Council of America. “Rev. Warnock recognizes that being a true friend also means being a truth-teller who does not shy away from hard conversations, and he has made no secret of his strong reservations and concerns over Israeli settlement expansion, which may impede prospects for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

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Warnock is senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., previously served as a co-pastor.

The letter’s signatories — who specified that they were not endorsing any candidate — suggested that racial bias could be driving the “baseless claims and attacks” targeting Warnock. “We abhor the politics of dividing traditionally marginalized communities in order to consolidate political power,” the letter states.

JDCA board member Michael Rosenzweig, who resides in Atlanta, said the letter shows “that Jewish faith leaders understand that history and stand with us. We know the truth and we won’t let others divide us.”

Signatories include national Jewish faith leaders such as Rabbis Sharon Brous of IKAR, Jill Jacobs of T’ruah, Sharon Kleinbaum of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, Lauren Holtzblatt and Aaron Alexander of Adas Israel, and Sandra Lawson of Elon University, as well as Georgia-based Rabbi Laurence Rosenthal of Ahavath Achim Synagogue, who is also president of the Atlanta Rabbinical Association, and Rabbis Peter Berg of Hebrew Benevolent Congregation (The Temple) and Joshua Lesser of Congregation Bet Haverim in Atlanta.