When deciding which candidate to support when selecting the Member of Congress from New Jersey’s Seventh Congressional District race, there is a clear difference in words and deeds between Tom Kean Jr. and Tom Malinowski when it comes to support for the State of Israel.
Tom Kean is resolute in his belief that the United States must stand by Israel. He believes that the United States and Israel have enjoyed a unique relationship, based on shared interests and common values. Tom Kean stands by Israel, a trusted ally to the United States in the war on terrorism and a beacon of hope and freedom as the only true democracy in the Middle East.
Tom Malinowski boasts that he is a friend of Israel, but his past actions say otherwise. Malinowski served as the Director of Human Rights Watch in Washington, DC for over a decade and was a member of President Obama’s State Department for four years. In both of these positions, he did not advocate for Israel – he actively promoted stances against our friend and ally.
The BDS campaign is a prime example.
While Tom Malinowski was at the helm of Human Rights Watch, the group supported efforts to delegitimize Israel and worked toward her isolation; HRW issued a press release calling upon countries to “impose targeted sanctions” against senior Israeli officials and published a 2010 report that attacked Israel’s domestic policies while working to advance a pro-BDS agenda.
As a NJ Senator, Tom Kean cosponsored legislation prohibiting the investment of pension and annuity funds by the State in companies that boycott Israel or Israeli businesses. He was also instrumental in the NJ Division of Investment ‘s determination that AirBnB’s discriminatory policy against Jewish-owned properties in Judea and Samaria made them ineligible under New Jersey law. Ultimately, AirBnB reversed its policy on the listing of Israeli settlements.
Tom Kean supports the United States in using its economic influence to pressure nations to engage in free-trade practices with Israel and supports measures like the Combatting BDS ACT, which would give individual states the tools to fight the boycott of Israel through divestiture from companies who aid the BDS movement.
Malinowski opposed the United States supplying the Israeli Defense Forces with cluster munitions and asked then-Senator Hillary Clinton not to support Israel’s construction of an “illegal” wall in the West Bank. While working for HRW, Malinowski lobbied against armored bulldozers from America being sent to Israel and urged that U.S. military assistance be withheld if Israel did not stop the construction of “so-called” settlements.
Iran is another example.
Iran remains the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism not only in the Middle East but also in Europe and now in the Western Hemisphere. Iran provides financing, training and support to terrorist groups around the world including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Yet Tom Malinowski strongly supported the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which was viewed by a majority of Israelis surveyed as aid to Iran in its work to oppose Israel. The deal gave Iran $1.7 billion dollars and freed up tens of billions of dollars in frozen assets. These funds have been used to bolster terrorists’ efforts against Israel and U.S troops in the Middle East as well as develop Iran’s ballistic missile program and further their nuclear weapons development.
The choice is clear. Tom Kean will always support Israel and will work against any efforts to delegitimatize it. Tom Malinowski will just talk about it.
Signed,
Dr. Alan Berger
Mr. Matthew Bergerman
Mr. Sam Cole
Mr. Michael DeLuca
Dr. Alvin S. Felzenberg
Dr. Joseph Frager
Mr. Philip Friedland, CPA
Dr. Bob Goldberg
Mr. Jeff Goldstein
Mr. Justin Greenman
Mrs. Cheryl Halpern
Ms. Pat Jansen
Mr. Howard Jonas
Mr. Jeff Kigner
Mrs. Alisa Kigner
Mr. Michael Kirsh
Dr. Bob Lebovics
Mr. Mark Levenson
Mr. Jacob Luksenberg
Mr. Louis Mergott
Mr. Lawrence Meyers
Mr. Gerald Ostrov
Mrs. Maryann Penza
Mr. Rich Reitman
Mr. Jeffrey Scheininger
Dr. Fredric Seinfeld
Senator Bob Singer
Mrs. Nancy Stone
Mr. David Stone
Mrs. Myrna Weissman