AJC Strongly Condemns Israeli Politician's Tirade Against Secretary of State John Kerry

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Feb 01, 2014, 10:08 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC condemned in the strongest possible terms Israeli Knesset Member Motti Yogev's verbal assault on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Yogev, of the Bayit Yehudi Party, declared on Israel Radio that "[Israeli] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is acting under Kerry's obsessive pressure, which may have anti-Semitic undertones" and "anti-Israel roots."

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"Such assertions are totally unfounded, dumb, and damaging," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "Anyone who has followed Secretary Kerry's long public career knows that he has been a rock-solid friend of the U.S.-Israel relationship and the Jewish people."

"MK Yogev certainly has the right to express his concern about the direction of the peace process, but his personal attack on Kerry is unwarranted," said Harris, "Yogev should offer a heartfelt apology or his party's leader, Naftali Bennett, should take swift action."

"Let's remember, Bayit Yehudi is part of Israel's governing coalition, which is dealing with Washington on a minute-by-minute basis not only on the peace process, but also on a range of vital security, defense, intelligence, economic, and other key fields," Harris added.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee