Democratic Nominee For NJ Governor Can’t Be Trusted To Support Israel Or The Jewish Community

Trenton, NJ – Congresswoman and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mikie Sherrill’s response to President Trump’s decision to strike Iran’s nuclear sites raises fresh concerns about her ambiguous and scattered positions on Israel and tolerance for antisemitism among extremists in her own party.

The Congresswoman is clearly so desperate to pacify the antisemitic fringe in her own party that she can’t speak with any moral clarity lest she alienate them.  That’s a big problem – particularly in a state with a sizable Jewish population.

Let me be clear: There can be no moral needle-threading when it comes to the right of Israel to exist in peace versus the violent intentions of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the terrorist regime in Iran who have expressly called for wiping Israel off the map.

First, Congresswoman Sherrill issued a confusing statement that lamented Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon – calling it a grave threat to Israel and the United States – but then immediately followed that by announcing her opposition to President Trump’s air strikes which were aimed at preventing Iran from getting that same nuclear weapon she lamented.  Does that make any sense?

As for the Congresswoman’s “deep concern” that the President didn’t seek authorization from Congress before launching the strikes against Iran, that would be defensible had she ever expressed similar concern about President Biden’s decision to launch hundreds, if not thousands of air strikes during his time in office, all without congressional approval. Sorry Mikie, you can’t have it both ways.

The reality is that as Congresswoman Sherrill has moved further and further to the left in an attempt to pander to more extreme elements of her party, she has not been an ardent and consistent defender of Israel.  According to a report in the Jewish Insider that compared her record unfavorably to Rep. Josh Gottheimer’s, Congressman Sherrill:

These troubling positions are, of course, in addition to Congresswoman Sherrill’s widely criticized decision to abstain on House Resolution 894, which condemned antizionism with the words “antizionism is antisemitism” – which passed by overwhelming bipartisan majority on December 5, 2023. (For the record, the Anti-Defamation League disagrees with the Congresswoman, stating unequivocally that “antizionism is antisemitism”)

More recently, Congresswoman Sherrill tapped Patricia Campos-Medina as a Vice-Chair and Senior Advisor to her campaign.  The same Campos-Medina who opposes U.S. aid to Israel and said Israel needed to be held accountable for “genocide” in Gaza.

As governor, you won’t ever need to ask where I stand on these critical issues.  I have spent years building deep and personal relationships throughout New Jersey’s various and diverse Jewish communities and have come to know the unique challenges these communities face.

As Governor, I will continue to engage with the Jewish community by:

I look forward to carrying this message with clarity and purpose throughout the rest of this campaign and earning the votes of Jewish New Jerseyans in all 21 counties.

Signed: Jack Ciattarelli

Jack Ciattarelli during a visit to Israel, in 2021