Left-wing Jewish American orgs. blast Biden admin. for serving wine from Israeli settlement

"This mistake came about because of policy. Specifically, the Trump administration policy which erased the Green Line," wrote the Americans for Peace Now CEO.

 US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris listen as former US President Barack Obama speaks about the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid at the White House in Washington, US, April 5, 2022.  (photo credit: REUTERS/LEAH MILLIS)
US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris listen as former US President Barack Obama speaks about the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid at the White House in Washington, US, April 5, 2022.
(photo credit: REUTERS/LEAH MILLIS)

A number of Left-wing Jewish-American organizations criticize Vice President Kamala Harris for serving wine from an Israeli settlement at her official Passover Seder on Monday. 

Americans for Peace Now sent an email to its members asking them to sign a petition against serving wine that coes from Israeli settlements.

"Like many of us, this past weekend Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff held a Passover seder at their home. Unfortunately, at their Seder they unknowingly served wine produced in a West Bank settlement. A spokesperson for Harris quickly clarified that this was 'in no way intended to be an expression of policy,'" Hadar Susskind, President and CEO of Americans for Peace Now wrote in the email. 

Susskind explained: "I absolutely believe that the VP did not intend to serve wine produced in a settlement. But this mistake came about because of policy. Specifically, the Trump administration policy which erased the Green Line and allowed products made in West Bank settlements to be labeled as 'Made in Israel.'"

Susskind urged his membership to "sign this petition to urge Secretary of State Antony Blinken to reverse Trump’s embracement of West Bank settlements."

 Mike Pompeo speaks at the Psagot Winery (credit: BINYAMIN REGIONAL COUNCIL)
Mike Pompeo speaks at the Psagot Winery (credit: BINYAMIN REGIONAL COUNCIL)

Susskind claimed that "Psagot and other Jewish settlements in the West Bank are not a part of Israel. They are constructed in occupied territory, under Israeli military occupation, and with the stated objective of preventing a two-state Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. Consecutive US administrations, Democratic and Republican, have defined settlements an obstacle to peace."

Left-wing Jewish lobby JStreet commented on the matter: "This highlights why it's so important for the US to again accurately label settlement products – which are not made in the state of Israel, but in the occupied Palestinian territory – after Trump required that they incorrectly be labeled ‘Made in Israel,'" the JStreet commented on Twitter.