Letter to the Editor: Norm Coleman
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Regarding the [Dec. 15] letter from former Consul General of Israel Alon Liel, in these pages, I share his appreciation for the work of [former] Ambassador Andrew Young and for the close ties between many in the African American community and the Jewish community. But Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Raphael Warnock is no Andrew Young.
It is stunning that [former] Ambassador Liel offers a character reference and endorsement for Warnock, while admitting that he has never met him or spoken with him. I urge Ambassador Liel to listen to Warnock’s own words, from before he decided to run for public office. Warnock’s statements put him at the far left of the Democratic Party and are laced with the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic tropes we have all sadly come to expect from that quarter.
Raphael Warnock’s widely reported words include likening Israel to apartheid South Africa and the security barrier to the Berlin Wall; falsely claiming that the Israeli government shot down “unarmed Palestinian sisters and brothers like bird of prey;” comparing [Israel Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu to segregationist [and former] Alabama Governor George Wallace; and publicly defending the anti-Semitic, racist Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Perhaps Ambassador Liel has only heard Warnock’s recent comments, distancing himself from those remarks and asserting friendship with Israel and the Jewish community. But Warnock’s election eve conversion to the pro-Israel camp is deeply suspect. His sermons and political positions over many years prior to 2020 should not be ignored; they are the real measure of the man.
Ambassador Liel’s fond memories of Andrew Young from 30 years ago are not a sound basis for assessing Raphael Warnock today. Warnock’s past statements show that he is no friend of Israel or our community, and his policy positions are too radical and too dangerous for Georgia and for our country.
Norm Coleman served as a U.S. senator from Minnesota from 2003 to 2009 and is national chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
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