U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has made clear that Washington does not intend to condemn Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to merge the Habayit Hayehudi-National Union list with the far-right Otzma Yehudit ahead of the April 9 Knesset election.
Netanyahu advocated for the merger to avoid a scenario in which small right-wing parties would fail to pass the minimum electoral threshold, thereby losing votes for the camp as a whole.
Asked by CNN's Jake Tapper, Saturday, if the White House had any concerns about Netanyahu's outreach to Otzma Yehudit, given recent criticism of the move from major U.S. Jewish organizations, Pompeo said, "We're not about to get involved in an election, to interfere in an election of a democracy."
He said, "We'll allow the Israeli people to sort this out. And I am confident that when the election's over, the United States will continue to have a strong, important, very, very deep relationship with Israel that protects the American people and benefits Israel, as well."
Tapper also asked Pompeo whether he thought that as Israel's ally, the U.S should speak out if there were concerns Netanyahu was "doing something wrong, doing something that violates the values of that relationship and the values of the Jewish state."
Pompeo replied that under U.S. President Donald Trump, the U.S. has been "very vocal when we see human rights violations, wherever we find them - friends, foes, adversaries, allies. We've been very consistent. We do it in different ways. We do it in different times. We will certainly continue to do that. It's a deep, important tradition of the United States of America, and the Trump administration will continue to do that, as well."
On Friday, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee tweeted its support for a statement issued by another U.S. Jewish organization, the American Jewish Committee, which on Thursday called the views of Otzma Yehudit "reprehensible."
"The AJC does not normally comment on political parties and candidates during an election. But with the announcement that Otzma Yehudit, a new political party formed by longtime followers of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, is now seeking election to the Knesset, we feel compelled to speak out," the AJC statement reads.
"The views of Otzma Yehudit … do not reflect the core values that are at the very foundation of the State of Israel. … Historically, the views of extremist parties, reflecting the extreme Left or the extreme Right, have been firmly rejected by mainstream parties, even if the electoral process of Israel's robust democracy has enabled their presence," the AJC said.
"AJC reaffirms our commitment to Israel's democratic and Jewish character," the statement concluded.
AIPAC retweeted the statement and added, "We agree with the AJC. AIPAC has a longstanding policy not to meet with members of this racist and reprehensible party."
Netanyahu is calling criticism from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobby over the far-right Otzma Yehudit party's merger with Habayit Hayehudi-National Union "hypocrisy."
In a post to his Facebook page, Netanyahu slammed what he called the Left's "double moral standards."
"They criticize an alliance on the Right with right-wing parties while the Left is working to bring radical Islamists into the Knesset to set up its own alliance," the prime minister wrote.
