An assistant Sanders apologizes for questioning the "double allegiance" of American Jews to Israel

A spokesman for Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign apologized on Tuesday after asking if "the American Jewish community had a dual allegiance to the state of Israel" – a comment condemned by Jewish leaders of the whole political spectrum as having an anti-Semitic connotation.

"In a conversation on Facebook, I used a language that, in my opinion, was insensitive.The issues of allegiance and loyalty to his country have a painful history," POLITICO Belén Sisa said, National press secretary Sanders. so many communities in our country feel attacked by the President and his allies, I absolutely recognize that we must deal with these issues with more attention and sensitivity for their historical resonance, and I am determined to do so at the same time. 39; future. "

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Sisa asked the question Sunday during a discussion in a thread on Facebook in which she said: like Sandersshe was with the representative Ilhan Omar. She canceled the post after POLITICO started asking questions about it.

Omar's repeated comments on Israel provoked a fight in the House as many of his fellow Democrats accused members of Congress appointed for the first time to use anti-Semitic language, while his supporters said that Omar was making legitimate criticisms of the government being stifled.

Sanders' remarks in favor of Omar reflect a tense conversation within the Democratic Party about what constitutes a legitimate criticism of Israel as opposed to fanning anti-Semitism. A group of screaming progressive activists concerned about Palestinian rights said that the country had shown too much deference to Israel – but Omar and some of his supporters sparked a violent reaction when they were not allowed. they attributed or hinted at the motivations for this support.

Sisa's comments were reported to POLITICO by a post reviewer. Jewish political leaders criticized his remarks before Sisa suppressed them.

"I would totally disagree with that. It's ridiculous. She is wrong, "said Lois Frankel, a Jewish Democrat from Florida. "It's just a terrible statement to make …"

The comment is an example of why "Bernie Sanders is not my candidate," added Frankel.

Sisa's comments were notable for both her role as Sanders Campaign Communications Officer and her timing. Last week, Omar was the target of criticism from Israel's allies, saying Israel's allies "were pushing for allegiance to a foreign country".

A Jew from the state of Sisa, Arizona, recalled the story of "double allegiance" in the Facebook thread – hangings of Jews from ancient Persia to the 1492 purge in Spain going through Nazi Germany.

Sisa's response: "This is a serious question: Do not you think that the American government and the American Jewish community have a double allegiance to the State of Israel? I ask not to exclude the history of this question, but in the context in which it was said by Ilhan. "

Another person on his Facebook then asked, "Do you think Bernie Sanders has double loyalty?" Sisa replied, "I think I should probably ask him? But his comments make me think he's another sage, because he was very direct with what he said, "and then linked to articles about Sanders' recent reaction to Omar's comments.

Of the 2020 nominees, Sanders, who is Jewish, was Omar's strongest advocate. After a House motion was proposed to denounce Omar by name, the Vermont senator said, "What I fear in the House now is an effort to target the Congressman, Omar, as way to stifle this debate. "

On Tuesday, after others intermingled, Sisa removed the offending post and attempted to rotate the subject of immigration. Sisa is an undocumented immigrant from Argentina protected from deportation by the Deferred Action Program for Child Arrivals (DACA), created by former President Barack Obama .

"I deleted my previous question because I do not think it really represents the question I was asking or what I meant to say," wrote Sisa. "I think the injustice of questioning someone's loyalty because of its culture or origin comes from the fact that comments are made about Mexican immigrants and many of the immigrant community now. . "