Young Jewish Leadership PAC

To the editor:

Last week, you published a letter from one of your readers lauding Congressman Himes for his “perfect, 100 percent voting record supporting the U.S.-Israel relationship” and criticizing his opponent Dan Debicella for “playing politics with the U.S.-Israel relationship.”

As someone who cares deeply about the U.S.-Israel relationship, I could not be more outraged! Congressman Himes was one of 54 Democrats who signed a letter pressuring the Israeli government to lift the blockade preventing weapons from reaching Gaza after having sustained years of incessant rocket attacks. During the recent flotilla episode, Congressman Himes issued a brief, three-sentence equivocal statement that withheld support for Israel’s right to self-defense notwithstanding that IED’s, guns, knives, bullet proof vests and gas masks were found on the “aid” vessel and a YouTube video showed the “humanitarian” workers tossing Israeli soldiers overboard.

When I called Congressman Himes’ office to ask if a more forceful statement of support affirming Israel’s right to self-defense would be forthcoming, I was referred to the floor speech your reader references. When I asked the Congressman’s staff to publish the speech on his website so I and other constituents could read it, I was told the office was too busy to post the text of a speech the Congressman had already delivered and I should search the C-SPAN archives if I wanted to view it.

When I placed a similar call to Dan Debicella’s campaign office, I was given a copy of a lengthier statement of support that not only affirmed Israel’s right to secure its borders, but advocated that we “promote the removal of terrorist organizations like Hamas from power.” Additionally, I was given a copy of Mr. Debicella’s policy statement on the U.S.-Israel relationship which said we should not presume to tell Israel how she should best defend herself from terrorists, a position Mr. Debicella called “condescending and counterproductive.”

The mark of true friendship is support when the chips are down. As someone who claims to be a strong supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship, I would expect a more forceful and public affirmation of Israel’s right to self-defense from Congressman Himes. That is what a true friend would do.

I remember a day when strong support for Israel’s unequivocal right to self-defense was a truly bipartisan issue and congressmen were not afraid to stand up for that principle, even at the risk of offending the President. I long for the return of such a day.

- Aaron Goldenberg

State Senator Dan Debicella is the Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from the 4th District of Connecticut