AOC baffles Jewish community by refusing to meet with leaders
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has rebuffed requests to meet with New York’s prominent Jewish leaders.
The heads of both the Jewish Community Relations Council and the New York Board of Rabbis said they’ve sought sit-downs with the first-term “Democratic socialist” congresswoman — to no avail.
“I requested a meeting with her and it has not come to fruition,” JCRC executive director Michael Miller told The Post.
“A meeting has been requested on more than one occasion. It hasn’t happened. I’m still interested in meeting with her.”
Miller said he’s had no problem communicating with other members of New York’s congressional delegation.
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive VP of the New York Board of Rabbis, also said the congresswoman has been elusive.
Potasnik said he’s run into AOC at events and requested to meet.
“The first response was, ‘Yes, we will.’ We’re still waiting,” Potasnik said.
Both organizations are supportive of Israel.
Ocasio-Cortez has been a leading critic of Israel, particularly opposing the Jewish state’s threats and move to annex disputed territories in the West Bank. She said Israel risked being vilified for becoming an “apartheid state.”
Supporters of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel are boosters of AOC.
“It’s easy to sit down with those you agree with. It’s also imperative to sit down with people with whom you disagree,” Potasnik said.
“My door is open.”
Potasnik also said there’ve been major developments in the Middle East, with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain normalizing relations with Israel in deals announced by President Trump.
“That takes the ‘B’ out of the BDS movement. Arab countries are not advocating boycotting Israel,” he said.
Miller stressed that Ocasio-Cortez “hasn’t completely distanced herself” from the Jewish community, praising her for participating in the January march over the Brooklyn Bridge to protest anti-Semitism.
The Jewish Insider first reported that Jewish leaders were baffled that AOC has shied away from interacting with them.
Eyebrows were raised again last week when the congresswoman withdrew from attending an Americans for Peace Now event honoring Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister who was assassinated in 1995 for his attempts to broker peace with the Palestinians, JI reported.
Ocasio-Cortez, who represents portions of The Bronx and Queens, had no immediate comment.
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