A video has resurfaced of Georgia Senate Democratic candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock comparing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to segregationist and former Alabama Gov. George Wallace.
In a 2016 sermon, Warnock, pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, slammed Netanyahu’s opposition to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In the sermon, Warnock also said that Israel cannot be both a Jewish and democratic state.
He continued, “If you do not have a Palestinian state, you will have to have apartheid in Israel that denies other citizens, sisters and brothers, citizenship.”
In a statement to Fox News on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Warnock, who is facing Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in one of two runoffs on Jan. 5, reiterated what the candidate said during a virtual event hosted by the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) that also featured Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff, who is facing incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue in the other runoff.
“As Reverend Warnock has said and said again yesterday, he does not believe Israel is an apartheid state,” said the spokesperson.
JDCA has endorsed Warnock and Ossoff.
Warnock has come under fire for defending anti-Semitic comments made by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, giving a May 2018 sermon in which he accused Israel of shooting non-violent Palestinian protesters and signing onto an anti-Israel statement last year. Last month, Warnock released an editorial by the Democrat titled “I Stand With Israel.”
On Thursday, Loeffler slammed Warnock for the 2016 sermon.
“This is on top of calling Israelis ‘birds of prey,’ comparing Israel to an ‘apartheid state,’ and celebrating anti-Semite Jeremiah Wright,” she tweeted. “Disgusting.”
.@ReverendWarnock compared Bibi Netanyahu to George Wallace.
This is on top of calling Israelis “birds of prey,” comparing Israel to an “apartheid state,” and celebrating anti-Semite Jeremiah Wright.
Disgusting. #gapol #gasen https://t.co/N3La0V5hxE
— Kelly Loeffler (@KLoeffler) December 10, 2020
Nevertheless, the political action committee for Democratic Majority for Israel, DMFI PAC, announced on Wednesday that it was “proud to endorse” Warnock.