Why Won't President Biden's Administration Affirm Candidate Biden's Opposition to BDS?
Washington, DC – Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked if President Biden agreed with statements from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and from the nominee for US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, opposing the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement. Psaki refused to say if President Biden continues to hold the same view as his Secretary of State, a view he held as a candidate in 2020.
Biden's views are again in question because he chose to elevate a prominent supporter of economic boycotts of Israel, Maher Bitar, to the extremely sensitive position of National Security Council senior director of intelligence programs.
Biden's appointment of Bitar and his press secretary's refusal to clarify his stance on BDS call into question whether President Biden shares the anti-BDS views of candidate Biden. He must speak out swiftly to reassure the American people that he does not support the antisemitic BDS movement, and to explain why he has given a supporter of the antisemitic BDS movement such a sensitive security post in his administration.