Jewish leaders say they are fighting Bernie Sanders at AIPAC

WASHINGTON – The specter of Bernie Sanders weighed on this year's pro-Israel AIPAC conference – powerful Jewish leaders describing an apocalyptic scenario around the man who could be the first Jewish president.

The Vermont senator's decision to boycott the meeting – once a crucial soap box for presidential aspirants – also overwhelmed Jewish voters at the event who criticized him for spurring the rise of the party. 39; anti-Semitism in the Democratic Party, they said.

"This is bad news," Malcolm Sherman, a retired math professor from Albany, New York, told The Post. "He is not a friend of Israel."

The 78-year-old woman sparked a quarrel with the US Israeli Public Affairs Committee last week when she claimed it offered a platform "for leaders who express fanaticism and oppose Palestinian rights fundamentals ".

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told the crowd of 20,000 at the conference on Sunday that Sanders was an "ignorant idiot."

"We don't want Bernie Sanders at AIPAC. We don't want him in Israel," said Danon.

"Anyone who calls our prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] a racist is either a liar, an ignorant idiot, or both," he added.

New AIPAC President Betsy Berns Korn has warned that the attacks on US-Israeli relations are no longer coming from the margins and are now "led by those who gain power and influence. "

"Those who oppose the US-Israel relationship should know that the pro-Israel community will strive to defeat them," Korn said in what seemed like a warning shot to Sanders. "We are fighting," she warned.

Howard Kohr, longtime Executive Director of AIPAC, also opened this year's conference with a barely veiled shot on Sanders.

"Any leader who energizes his political movement by demonizing Israel is not a friend of Israel, "he said.

Sanders identifies as Jewish but has close ties to representatives of the fire brands. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar and activist Linda Sarsour – all supporters of the international BDS movement to boycott Israel – and this worries many Jewish voters.

Sherman said he was concerned that the Democratic Party was becoming more and more hostile towards Israel and those who supported it.

"This is the kind of anti-Semitism where Jews are welcome, as long as they are leftist, and share their overall revival agenda," he said. .

"I don't want Sanders to get the nomination because I don't want the Democrats to go in that direction."

In a tweet, Sanders castigated the conference he never attended, unlike many of his fellow Democrats and Republicans from Capitol Hill who agree that American support for Israel is a two-party issue.

“The people of Israel have the right to live in peace and security. So do the Palestinian people, ”Sanders wrote on Sunday. "I remain concerned about the platform that AIPAC offers to leaders who express fanaticism and oppose the fundamental rights of the Palestinians. For this reason, I will not attend their conference. "

"As president, I will support the rights of the Israelis and the Palestinians and do everything I can to bring peace and security to the region," he said.

AIPAC has been accused of moving more and more to the right and has been criticized for supporting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who faces corruption charges.

Rabbi Jonathan Hecht of Cincinnati, Ohio, told The Post that he identified himself as a Liberal Democrat in favor of a two-state solution and said he was disappointed with Sanders' decision not to not attend.

"I am very saddened by the decision that he considers this a place of bigotry," said Hecht, describing the boycott as "problematic".

"This is a place to exchange ideas and views and not to come here is a statement that he is unwilling to engage in this type of dialogue with Americans of all kinds."