Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday appointed Ilan Goldenberg, who has spearheaded the Biden administration’s sanctions efforts against Israel, as its new liaison with the Jewish community.
Michael Dolan wrote in Tablet magazine on Sunday how Goldenberg, an Israeli-born, left-wing peace negotiator, helped lead the Biden administration’s unprecedented effort to track and target Israelis for sanctions in the midst of the country’s war with Hamas terrorists.
Protesters hold placards and flags during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in London, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023, two days after Hamas fighters launched an unprecedented multi-front offensive against Israel that left more than 700 people dead. The fighters tore down fortified border fences during a Jewish holiday and shot at civilians and soldiers in Israeli communities along the Gaza border. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Doran Written:
President Biden recently achieved a historic first, but he is not getting any credit for it: He is the first president to assemble an interagency team dedicated to imposing sanctions on an ally, namely Israel.
…
The White House has launched an interagency initiative to develop sanctions measures against Israeli entities and individuals. The National Security Council’s (NSC) Bureau of International Economic Affairs is leading this effort. Ilan Goldenberg, who worked under Vice President Kamala Harris until April and has now moved to the NSC’s Office of Strategic Planning, is also playing a very enthusiastic role. At the State Department, the Office of Economic Sanctions Policy is taking the lead. The office works closely with the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to prepare the dossier.
These “evidence packages” are often based on one-sided information provided by anti-Israel groups such as Jamal Khashoggi’s Democracy for the Arab World (DAWN). The sanctions advance the aims of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. They often target general protest activities, but sometimes they target the wrong people. The sanctions are currently the subject of a lawsuit alleging they violate the First Amendment.
Monday, Jewish News Agency Reported Harris tapped Goldenberg to reach out to Jews.
Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign has appointed Israeli-born former peace negotiator Ilan Goldenberg as its liaison with the Jewish community, aides said.
Three people with ties to Jewish organizations and the Harris campaign confirmed her selection to the Jewish News Agency. The Harris campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
Goldenberg, who served as a Middle East adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris and has been a vocal critic of both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian leadership, led the Obama administration’s negotiating team during the failed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in 2013-2014 and developed close ties with Jewish organizations.
Goldenberg has been a critic of President Donald Trump’s highly successful Israeli policies. In 2021, he Suggested He argues, as Trump does, that the US should not recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Skeptical President Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and close the “consulate” that had become a haven for anti-Israel officials and activists has been extreme in his hostility towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
JTA notes that Goldenberg renounced his Israeli citizenship – he was born in Jerusalem before his family emigrated – to take a U.S. government job focusing on “Iran at the Department of Defense” under President Barack Obama.
Goldenberg, 2020 Written In an op-ed with Hadi Amr, who would later become an anti-Israel official in the Biden administration, he slammed the Trump peace plan that would lead to the Abraham Accords and thriving ties in the region.
The selection of Goldenberg signals that Kamala Harris will take an antagonistic stance toward Israel and its government, and that pro-Israel Jews (the majority) will not be represented in her administration.
update: David Millstein has compiled a more extensive list of Goldenberg’s anti-Israel writings and actions.
This article is missing a lot of important information about Ilan Goldberg’s views on Israel. Here are a few examples:
(1) I supported President Obama’s abstention from the Security Council on the anti-Israel Resolution 2334. I also supported Secretary of State Kerry’s shameful speech at the end of his meeting with President Obama. https://t.co/QsJ0sCygOl
— David Milstein (@davidamilstein) August 12, 2024
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday The show airs Sunday nights from 7 to 10 p.m. (4 to 7 p.m. ET) on SiriusXM Patriot. He is the author of “Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” which is available for preorder on Amazon. He also wrote,Trumpian virtue: The lessons and legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency” is available on Audible. He is the 2018 recipient of the Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
