(JTA) — Speaking once to the Jewish electorate Tuesday night, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. , said, “The charge of anti-Semitism is the one that hurts me.
Kennedy, the anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and Democratic presidential candidate, reacting to the growing backlash against his claim that COVID-19 was “ethnically targeted” to avoid Jews and Chinese. the Upper East Side, drew complaints from a variety of figures, adding Jewish and Democratic leaders in Congress. He denied he was anti-Semitic.
At Tuesday’s event, Kennedy had a chance to protect his record on Jews, thanks to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the former Republican congressional candidate.
The appearance at Hell’s Kitchen drew many attendees, adding Kennedy supporters, curious Kennedy people and a handful of troublemakers. Boteach called Kennedy an “ally and friend” and presented him with a platform to communicate about Israel and anti-Semitism.
“I don’t know, I’m an anti-Semite,” Kennedy said of his critics. “I’ve literally never said an anti-Semitic word in my life. I think they probably thought what they were doing was right, one way or another. “other. And I think we all have this ability, or self-deception, to judge ourselves through our intentions rather than our actions.
But Kennedy also elaborated on the “ethnic target” claim: “This would in no way have been conceived through the Jews,” he said. Referring to other people he believes are to blame for the spread of COVID, he added, “We know who they were and were not Jewish. “
(There’s no evidence that ethnic teams are any less vulnerable to COVID, which has killed nearly 7 million people worldwide. )
This is not the first time Kennedy has been accused of anti-Jewish rhetoric to promote his baseless claims about medical problems. In the past, he has apologized for the word “holocaust” to describe the law requiring vaccines for young people and, last year, for invoking Anne Frank at an anti-vaccine rally. He also paid tribute to Roger Waters, the former Pink Floyd frontman and staunch critic of Israel who has been widely criticized for Holocaust imagery at his concerts.
Kennedy, 69, said Tuesday he is friends with Holocaust survivors and their descendants.
“I get the pain of anti-Semitism from those other people, and I don’t need to give a contribution to that,” he said. At another point, he said: “I am aware of the blood libel story and how this type of information is used by other malicious people to arouse hatred towards Jews.
Kennedy almost caused the event not to take place. On Monday, Boteach announced on social media that the venue originally planned to host the event, the New York Society for Ethical Culture, had backtracked. In a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the venue said hosting Kennedy would be “inconsistent with the long-standing principles and values of the Society. “He did not elaborate on his objections.
But Boteach discovered an area of choice for verbal exchange, where he defended Kennedy from the allegations. He presented the verbal exchange as the first in a series of events with presidential candidates organized through his organization, World Values Network. The event was originally advertised as “The Case for Israel,” a slogan that later replaced “Fight Anti-Semitism. Defend Israel. “
At another point, Boteach said two prominent Jewish Democrats, Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, “owe Bobby Kennedy an apology for calling him an anti-Semite and saying it’s embarrassing because of Kennedy’s name. “
Gottheimer called Kennedy “an embarrassment to the calling of Kennedy and the Democratic Party. “Wasserman Schultz was among the lawmakers who received a letter from 102 Democrats last week asking that Kennedy be disinvited from testifying before Congress. Gottheimer also called for the invitation to be revoked.
“If I’m anti-Semitic, then I’m funnier than Larry David,” Boteach told Kennedy, eliciting polite laughter from the crowd.
Throughout their conversation, Boteach mentioned the legacy of Kennedy’s father, former Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in his 1968 presidential crusade through Sirhan Sirhan. War.
But the younger Kennedy questioned Sirhan’s guilt, visited him in criminal in 2018 and told The Washington Post that “the user may have been convicted of murdering my father. “
(At one point, a woman in the crowd supported this idea, claiming that Sirhan was not the murderer. She escorted her out of the room through security, as did two other people who disrupted the event, adding a Kennedy supporter. )
Boteach praised Kennedy’s opposition to U. S. President Joe Biden’s attempts to sign the deal restricting Iran’s nuclear program. They also discussed Israel’s widely reported ownership of nuclear weapons, which the Israeli government, as a long-standing policy, intends to keep shrouded in ambiguity. .
Kennedy referred to Israel’s nuclear functions as a matter of fact, in itself a great recognition through a presidential candidate. “Israel’s use of this nuclear weapon will only take place if it is attacked,” he said.
On Iran, COVID and a variety of other issues, Kennedy’s stated policies are out of step with the mainstream of the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, his long-running campaign has received praise from several right-wing figures. Morton Klein, the president of the Zionist Organization of America, allegedly pleaded with him on Israeli issues, and the ZOA recently praised Kennedy’s “strong for Israel. “
But on at least one issue, Kennedy’s perspectives coincide with Biden’s: opposition to judicial reform by Israel’s right-wing government, which was intended to undermine the strength and independence of the Supreme Court. The first detail of the reform was enacted this week amid protests.
“I’m very proud of Israel’s Supreme Court,” Kennedy said. “I don’t need to see it dismantled. I think it’s a source of pride. “
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