Dershowitz booed at ZOA dinner for pointing out Clinton won popular vote

Although he was expected to attend the dinner, President-elect Donald Trump’s newly appointed chief strategist Steve Bannon was not present on Sunday night.

NOVEMBER 21, 2016 08:16

Updated: NOVEMBER 22, 2016 00:10

Alan Dershowitz (photo credit: REUTERS) — Alan Dershowitz

(photo credit: REUTERS)

NEW YORK – American-Jewish jurist Prof. Alan Dershowitz was booed during his speech at the Zionist Organization of America’s annual gala dinner on Sunday for reminding the audience that the US election “was a tie election, that one person won the electoral and one person won the popular vote.”

Dershowitz was among several other speakers at the event, including Education Minister Naftali Bennett, Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and UN Ambassador Danny Danon.

“I’m gonna say something that you may not want to hear,” Dershowitz told the forum. “I think the ZOA is a great, great organization, but it must be the home to all Zionists, not just right-wing Zionists.

“I don’t ever want to see ZOA – and I’m not suggesting this is happening – become the mirror- image opposite of J street, because that causes tremendous division within the Zionist community,” he said. “The Zionist Organization of America should not take sides on Israeli domestic politics or on American domestic politics.”

Dershowitz said he is a little worried today that there are Jews in many parts of the world that are being seduced by the hard Right.

“We must not become complicit in bigotry, whether it is from the Right or the Left,” he said. “I think that being pro-Israel can never serve as an excuse for bigotry against any other group.”

Dershowitz also said the US presidential election should never become “a referendum on Israel.”

“Why? because we could lose,” he said. “One thing we cannot accept is putting Israel’s faith in the hands of our election system. We must always make sure that both parties, and candidates for both parties, support Israel.”

Danon, who closed the event and received an award for “outstanding diplomacy,” said the Israeli mission to the United Nations works very closely with the US mission every single day at the world body.

“The US has stood by our side and fought against some of the worst anti-Israeli initiatives that our enemies tried to introduce at the UN,” he said.

“And we hope that America’s support will continue until January 20 and beyond.”