Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said on Monday that he intends to reinvigorate Israel’s relationship with the Democratic Party, describing it as one of his central objectives, according to advocacy group Democratic Majority for Israel (DFMI.)
In a video call with DFMI’s board of directors, Lapid emphasized that a strong relationship with the United States was a core strategic asset for Israel, that required a bipartisan approach to maintain, the group said in a statement.
On June 14, in his opening speech at the Foreign Ministry, Lapid criticized the previous administration’s approach to the Democratic Party as “disgraceful and dangerous.”
“Republicans are important to us, but not just them. We find ourselves in front of a Democratic White House, a Democratic Senate and a Democratic House of Representatives,” he added.
In May 2018, Lapid, who was opposition leader at the time, attacked then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for too closely aligning with Republicans and evangelicals. “The fact that the government has complete identification with the conservative evangelical faction of the Republican Party is dangerous,” Lapid said in May 2018.
Defending the Netanyahu administration’s approach, Former Israeli ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer said last month that Israel should focus more of its attention in reaching out to evangelical Christians, as they make up the bulk of Israel’s support.
“People have to understand that the backbone of Israel’s support in the United States is the evangelical Christians. It’s true because of numbers and also because of their passionate and unequivocal support for Israel,” he said.