Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday rushed to the defense of AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group some of his fellow progressives have denounced as too right-wing.
“From my experience with folks from AIPAC, they represent a broad range of views,” de Blasio said on WNYC radio.
“There’s folks [who are] Democrats, Republicans. There are folks more conservative, more liberal. They do believe strongly in protecting the state of Israel, as do I.”
Hizzoner’s comments came in response to a question from radio host Brian Lehrer, who asked why he supports the American Israel Public Affairs Committee considering its “reputation of having a right-wing bent.”
Earlier in the morning, Politico reported that de Blasio attended an AIPAC meeting Thursday that wasn’t listed on his public schedule.
“First of all, this happened to be a house party that someone I know invited me to, and it wasn’t clear I could make it until the very end, so that’s why,” a defensive De Blasio said.
“It was a small event — not a big public event.”
De Blasio also failed to disclose his attendance at an AIPAC event in January 2014, mere weeks into taking office.
At Thursday’s appearance, he was photographed on Twitter standing and smiling with a group of women standing in front of AIPAC’s banner. The meeting was hosted by a women’s division of AIPAC, according to Politico.
“I think it is important for people to walk across the different communities to fight Islamophobia, to fight anti-Semitism, sexism, racism,” de Blasio told WNYC.
“We all need to do this together, and I’ll go to different types of organizations with that same message. This is a message I have put forward before, and I will continue doing it.”
De Blasio continues to fiercely defend Israel as some members of his own party, like Rep. Ilhan Omar, are sharply critical of the Jewish state’s policies.
Last week, he criticized Omar over her divisive tweets that claimed AIPAC’s influence is fueling US support of Israel.
Omar came under intense fire for saying lawmakers’ support of Israel was “all about the Benjamins,” a reference to $100 bills.