Debbie Wasserman Schultz Spars Over Israel With Challenger
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Ron Kampeas August 16, 2016
WASHINGTON — Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla. and her primary challenger are exchanging sharp accusations about which candidate is more pro-Israel.
Tim Canova, a lawyer, attempted in a debate on Sunday on CBS4-CBS Miami, to use Wasserman Schultz’s vote last year for the nucleat deal with Iran against her.
“Her vote has been condemned by an awful lot of folks,” Canova said in remarks reported by Jewish Insider. “I think she wasn’t looking out for Israel’s security.”
Wasserman Schultz, one of the most prominent Jewish members of the Democratic caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, accused Canova of “waffling” on Israel during the debate, and repeated the charge on Monday in an email linking to a Q and A Canova hosted earlier this year on the Reddit social media site.
A statement from her campaign “condemned her opponent’s call for disarming the Middle East, including Israel, as drastic, dangerous and deadly for the Jewish state.”
In the Reddit exchange, Canova calls for “a real disarmament effort for the entire region.”
He also said “I favor a freeze on settlements and the administration has to make this a big priority.”
Wasserman Schultz resigned last month as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee after hacked emails revealed staffers’ antagonism to the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders, the Independent senator from Vermont.
Sanders, who now backs Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, has backed Canova since May, and recently fund-raised for him.
Florida’s congressional primaries are on Aug. 30.
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