“I don’t think we’re doing Israel a favor by condoning a policy that makes Israel very insecure.”
WASHINGTON – Washington should halt its aid to Israel so long as it continues occupying the Palestinians, Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate for president of the United States, told a cable-televised town hall on Wednesday night.
At the event, hosted by CNN in New York, the third-party candidate repeated her call for a boycott of the state: “We will not continue to give you eight million dollars a day when the Israeli army is occupying land in Palestine,” she said.
Stein– who herself was raised Jewish and who says she has family members living in Israel– was asked by an attendee why she plans to boycott Israel over its policies, and not other nations in the Middle East performing human rights abuses on a massive scale.
She said that, in fact, she does plan on boycotting the governments of Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Israel would simply be in this category going forward, under a “Green administration.”
“I’ve been very careful of avoiding that pitfall of targeting Israel,” she replied. “Our foreign aid will be based on international law.”
“I don’t think we’re doing Israel a favor by condoning a policy that makes Israel very insecure,” she added.
Stein is polling at roughly 3 percent nationwide– not high enough to make the stage for the nationally televised presidential debates set for this fall. At the town hall, she spoke of her roots in Judaism, describing herself as a “very religious” young woman who “actually brought traditional Jewish ritual into my family.”
“My view of the world grew out of the morality” of Judaism, she stated. She married outside of the faith, and currently is not actively practicing any religion.
She offered criticism for the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who she said had the backing of a casino magnate– ostensibly Sheldon Adelson– that has been “influencing Israel policy.”
Asked by the event host, Chris Cuomo, whether Israel should reserve its status as an exceptional American ally, Stein equivocated.
“I believe all of our allies are special allies, she said. “We are all members of the human family.”
Congress in 2014 officially elevated Israel as a “strategic partner” of the US. The Jewish state receives more US foreign aid than any other nation, and the two governments are currently in the final stage of negotiating a defense deal worth an estimated $38-40 billion.