The Anti-Defamation League Thursday slammed Rep. Keith Ellison's bid to head the Democratic National Committee, calling past comments about Israel "deeply disturbing and disqualifying."
In a statement, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt pointed to 2010 speech in which the Minnesota lawmaker asked why "United States' foreign policy in the Middle East is governed by what is good or bad through a country of 7 million people."
"Rep. Ellison's remarks are both deeply disturbing and disqualifying," Greenblatt declares in the statement.
"His words imply that U.S. foreign policy is based on religiously or national origin-based special interests rather than simply on America's best interests."
"Additionally, whether intentional or not, his words raise the specter of age-old stereotypes about Jewish control of our government, a poisonous myth that may persist in parts of the world where intolerance thrives, but that has no place in open societies like the U.S."
Greenblatt says the comments "sharply contrast with the Democratic National Committee platform position, which states: 'A strong and secure Israel is vital to the United States because we share overarching strategic interests and the common values of democracy, equality, tolerance, and pluralism.'"
The biting statement followed a CNN report that detailed Ellison's defense of National of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has made anti-Semitic comments.
Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, has been dogged by accusations of ties to anti-Semitism from the start of his bid to lead the DNC – and the ADL initially came to his defense, The Hill reported.
In a statement last week, Greenblatt said that while Ellison made statements and took positions the group didn't agree with, he's a "man of good character … an important ally in the fight against anti-Semitism and for civil rights," The Hill reported.
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