Nides Publicly Condemns Israel – Doesn’t Publicly Condemn Palestinian Arab Regime
By Elizabeth Berney, Esq.
After the main proceedings of the 2023 Extraordinary World Zionist Congress (WZC) concluded on Friday April 21, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides addressed the 150 American WZC delegates, at a meeting organized by the American Zionist Movement (AZM). (AZM is the umbrella organization for American groups who attend the World Zionist Congress.)
Unfortunately, I can’t divulge the substance of Nides’ address, because AZM’s president announced during Q&A that the meeting was “off the record.”
(I can report, however, that after the meeting, I spoke with Amb. Nides about his failure to vigorously publicly condemn the Palestinian Authority’s heinous “pay to slay” payments to terrorists to murder Jews. And, at a meeting with Amb. Nides last February, ZOA President Morton Klein asked Amb. Nides why he, publicly and repeatedly, criticizes human-rights-loving ally Israel but almost never criticized the terrorist dictatorship of the Palestinian Authority regime. Especially, Klein asked, “why do you never publicly condemn and try to end the most heinous Nazi-like policy of the Palestinian regime of paying Arabs lifetime pensions to murder Jews?!” Nides responded by claiming he raises the issue privately.)
The fact that I can’t say more about Amb. Nides’ address at the WZC raises an important issue: It seems unnecessary and wrong that diverse umbrella groups such as the AZM (and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations – the CoP) make certain such meetings “off the record.” The politicians and diplomats who speak at these large multi-group meetings continue to tow the “party line,” and don’t say anything that they haven’t already repeatedly publicly said “on the record” elsewhere.
Perhaps the “off the record” designation makes AZM and CoP board members and delegates feel like they are special, privy to inside information that no one else has. But we board members and delegates are present at these meetings as representatives of our organizations and constituencies. We were elected or appointed to represent a constituency – not to receive special inside information privileges. The members of the public who voted for us or appointed us should know what is being said at these meetings. And in the unlikely event that one of the speakers at these meetings were to say something new, shouldn’t our constituencies know about this? I hope that the AZM and the CoP umbrella groups will consider ending the practice of “off the record” meetings.
As for Amb. Nides’ address to the American delegation at the WZC, it shouldn’t be difficult for those who were not there to imagine what he said.
Ambassador Nides is notorious for his egregious violations of the international laws that require ambassadors to not interfere with domestic affairs of the host country. Nides boasts about “aggressively” (his word) pressuring Israel to prevent Jews from building homes in the Jewish homeland; called Jews living in and building homes in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria “stupid” and “infuriating”; threatened that if he could, he would throw Israel’s Finance Minister off an airplane; ignores massive illegal Arab building on Israel’s lawful lands; promotes the division of Jerusalem and a Palestinian Arab (terror) state on Israel’s lawful lands; fails to publicly demand or pressure the Palestinian Authority to end the PA’s glorification of Jew-killers and horrendous “pay-to-slay” payments to terrorists who murder Jews; publicly opposes and interferes with Israel’s needed democratic judicial reforms; omits to identify that the perpetrators of deadly terror attacks against Jews are Palestinian Arabs; continually pressures Israel to allow the U.S. to open a consulate in Jerusalem for Palestinian Arabs which would undermine Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem; told the anti-Israel BDS group Americans for Peace Now (APN) that APN’s agenda was where Nides’ heart is; boycotted Jews (but not Palestinian Arabs) living in the Jewish heartlands of Judea/Samaria; criticized an Israeli minister for visiting the Jewish people’s holiest site (the Temple Mount); and interferes with Israel’s security protocols and rights to control her own borders.
(See, e.g., “Amb. Tom Nides Should Not Interfere in Israel’s Domestic Affairs,” by Morton Klein, JNS, Mar. 8, 2023; “ZOA Condemns U.S. Amb. to Israel Nides Calling Israel & Jews Who Legally Build Homes in Jerusalem/Judea/Samaria “Stupid” & “Infuriating”,” Mar. 18, 2022; “U.S. Amb. to Israel Thomas Nides Endangers Israel’s Security & Interferes with Israeli Sovereignty, Violating International Law,” ZOA,Sept. 15, 2022; “ZOA Condemns U.S. State Dept. & U.S. Amb. Nides For Siding with Antisemitic, Discriminatory Palestinian & Hamas Terrorists re: the Temple Mount, Violating Jews’ Religious Freedom,” Jan. 4, 2023; “U.S. Amb. Nides Boycott of Judea/Samaria Condemned by ZOA,” by Morton Klein, Feb. 3, 2022, Jerusalem Post; “Secy. Blinken & Amb. Nides Statement on Palestinian Arab Terror Attack in Israel Omits “Palestinian,” by Joel Pollak, Breitbart, Apr. 8, 2022; “Biden’s Israel Ambassador Tells BDS Group He Wants Jews Out of Jerusalem,” by Daniel Greenfield, Frontpagemag, May 11, 2022.)