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Join Telegram ChannelJERUSALEM — Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has sowed discord with the selection of a liaison to the American Jewish community who has been criticized for views that undermine Israel’s security and for his soft stance on Iran, according to some prominent American and Israeli Jews.
Harris last week nominated Jerusalem-born Ilan Goldenberg — who renounced his Israeli citizenship to work for former President Obama's first administration — sparking intense criticism from parts of the American Jewish community and Israeli-Americans.
In 2021, Goldenberg worked for the Biden administration’s Defense Department. In 2023, he became Harris’ Middle East adviser. Goldenberg, 46, who grew up in New Jersey, is seen as a lightning rod pick by his critics because he has promoted policies that harm Israel.
A senior Republican congressional staffer who has spoken with him told Fox News Digital: “Goldenberg’s job in the Biden-Harris administration has been to undermine Israel. He has played a key role inside and outside the vice president’s office, moving the entire administration in a direction hostile to Israel and in favor of the Palestinians, and has interfered with efforts to make peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia.”
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Ilan Goldenberg testifying at a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing. (House Foreign Affairs Committee)
In February, Fox News Digital reported that the Biden administration has reportedly ignored Palestinian terrorism in Israel's biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria, known as the West Bank outside Israel, while imposing sanctions on some extremist Jewish residents of the disputed area during Israel's existential war against the Iran-backed Hamas terror movement.
The Israeli government claims that its advanced legal system is capable of punishing Israeli Jews who commit crimes against Palestinians in settlements.
On Monday, Goldenberg delivered his first speech as Harris' director of Jewish community outreach at a side event at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
According to Jewish Insider, speaking of Harris, he told the audience: “From the beginning, she has been adamant that Israel has the right to defend itself. Israel was attacked on October 7, and Hamas is a terrorist organization, and we are going to support Israel in its response. And, secondly, this is just part of a much longer record on her part that she has an unwavering commitment to the security of Israel that goes back well before October 7.”
American-Israeli law professor Eugene Kontorovich told Fox News Digital: “The Jewish community is united in its opposition to boycott, divestment and sanctions. [targeting Israel]Goldenberg is one of those in the Biden-Harris administration who have imposed sanctions on official Israeli government policy.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a meeting in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House complex in Washington, July 25. (AP/Julia Nikhinson)
Kontorovich, who teaches at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, said: “The celebration of her selection by the most extreme left-wing Jewish groups shows that when it comes to the Jewish vote, Harris feels no need to swing to the center. She thinks she has it all together, regardless of her hostility toward Israel.”
Fox News Digital asked Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, about the criticism leveled at Goldenberg.
““I have publicly commented on the appointment of Ilan Goldenberg,” she said, referring to his comments about X.
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Protesters in support of Israel gather to denounce anti-Semitism and call for the release of Israeli hostages on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on November 14, 2023. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
“Goldenberg is a national security and Middle East expert who brings a wealth of experience to this critically important role,” she wrote of him. “His appointment speaks volumes about the priority @KamalaHarris places on outreach to the American Jewish community.”
She also said that Goldenberg is “not just a political candidate or campaign person. He is a seasoned foreign policy expert who has worked directly with the vice president on Middle East policy, which speaks volumes about how they view the scope and importance of this role.”
Fox News Digital has repeatedly reached out to members of Harris' campaign and separately to Goldenberg, but has not received a response.
According to an article by Seth Mandel, editor of Commentary magazine, Goldenberg has often been wrong about his Middle East policy. He predicted that former President Trump’s move of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, would trigger upheaval in the region. There was no violence in the Middle East after the U.S. Embassy moved to Jerusalem.
In an article titled “Harris’s Disturbing Message to Jewish Voters,” Mandel criticized Goldenberg for arguing that Obama’s controversial Iran nuclear deal “would create a situation in which Iran would be deterred from getting a nuclear bomb.” Mandel responded bluntly: “That’s not the case.” Fox News Digital reported on August 4 that the Iranian regime had come dangerously close to obtaining a nuclear device under the Biden administration.
Anti-Israel protesters cause havoc outside Union Station in Washington, DC, on July 24, 2024. (Image direct for Fox News Digital)
David Milstein, who served as special assistant to U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman under President Trump, told Fox News Digital: “The nomination of Ilan Goldenberg should set off another red flag for Americans who strongly support Israel, one more reason not to vote for Harris-Walz, who has already demonstrated support for the anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas wing of her own party.”
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“Ilan has a long history of anti-Israel views outside the bipartisan mainstream of the pro-Israel community and has held senior positions advising some of the most anti-Israel political leaders of recent times, including Secretary John Kerry during the Obama administration, Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign, and Vice President Kamala Harris during the Biden administration,” Milstein added.
“There's a reason radical, left-wing, anti-Israel groups like J Street are thrilled with his nomination.”
A road sign indicating the United States Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel (Hillel Maeir/TPS)
The public spat over Goldenberg's suitability as the campaign's liaison has had an impact on Israeli news. The Jerusalem Post, a centrist English-language newspaper read by many American Jews, published a piece by the paper's editor, Zvika Klein, warning: “Why Harris's Golden Boy Should Alarm All Israel's Friends.”
The heated debate over Goldenberg’s nomination prompted David Makovsky, director of the program on Arab-Israeli relations at the Washington Institute of Near East Policy, to write on X on Sunday: “I am concerned about the personal attacks on a colleague @ilangoldenberg. Of course, one can agree or disagree with specific policy prescriptions. Certainly Ilan and I have had our share of heated debates, but it is completely false to insist that Ilan does not care about Israel’s security.”
“If in doubt, ask Israeli Maj. Gen. (Res.) Gadi Shamni. Gadi has held many senior positions, including Senior Military Advisor to the Israeli Prime Minister and Chief Military General for the West Bank (Pikud Mercaz). Gadi co-authored a 2017 @CNASdc study with Ilan on security arrangements under the Final Status Agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.”
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Israeli-American academic Richard Landes told Fox News Digital: “On the one hand, if she’s the one in charge of liaising with the Jewish community (and not its foreign policy adviser), it’s a slap in the face to the vast majority who care about Israel. On the other hand, it’s a clear signal to the rest of the country that her administration (and Walz’s) will play the role of the left-wing Muslim electorate. If Britain’s current dilemmas are a sign of the democratic future, then putting Kamala in the White House gives wings to our participation in the Olympic race toward self-destruction.”