Months ago, President Biden nominated longtime Democratic donor Elizabeth Frawley Bagley to serve as ambassador to Brazil. At her confirmation hearing in May, she faced bipartisan condemnation for a 1998 interview in which she claimed that Democrats entertained “stupid” pro-Israel viewpoints because of “the Jewish factor” and echoed old anti-Semitic tropes, saying, “There is always the influence of the Jewish lobby because there is major money involved.”
The ZOA opposed her nomination and noted that Bagley was among “a long list of President Biden’s anti-Semitic and Israelophobic nominees and appointees,” which the organization has documented. Her nomination was tabled at the time, but now, the same week as the performative White House roundtable on anti-Semitism, her nomination has been returned to the Senate calendar, so Senate leaders can bring it up for a vote before the end of the year.
Zionist Organization of America President Morton A. Klein stated, “The ZOA calls on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer not to put this nomination forward. In June, I said, ‘Bagley’s anti-Semitic tirade, language, and attitude was horrifying,’ and that hasn’t changed. Putting this nomination back on the calendar shows exactly how fraudulent the White House roundtable was. President Biden can’t condemn anti-Semitism one day then seek to put anti-Israel Jew-haters in positions of power the next.
“For example,” Klein continued, “President Biden recently elevated Special Envoy to the Palestinians Hady Amr, a man who wrote that he ‘was inspired by the Palestinian intifada,’ the terror wars in which Palestinian Arab terrorists murdered or maimed 10,000 Jews. Deputy Director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs Reema Dodin has explained away suicide bombings including the September 11 attacks. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre has written that ‘Israel may have committed war crimes,’ and previously worked for Moveon.org, an organization that supports vicious Jew-haters Linda Sarsour, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar, as well as the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel. Biden’s Senior Director for Intelligence on the National Security Council, Maher Bitar, also supports BDS, and he hosted a conference where speakers endorsed Islamic terrorism. President Biden can tweet against anti-Semitism, but his appointments tell a different story.”
