I have referred in the past to the problems Brad Lander may have among progressives due to his close connection with known homophobe and Holocaust denier (denial of anyone but Jews being killed in the Holocaust, that is) Dov Hikind. While campaigning for Brad's main rival, Josh Skaller, I have encountered several people who say, "Brad Lander is that guy with Dov Hikind. I can't vote for him!" But now it seems the Brad/Dov relationship may well be getting criticism from the other side as well. A reader passed along two letters from the Jewish Press:

Hikind And Lander (I)

Given The Jewish Press's continuing complaints about President Obama, I found last week's short report of Assemblyman Dov Hikind's endorsement of Brad Lander for New York City Council dripping with unintended irony.

According to Hikind, Lander "is a longtime leader in preserving and creating affordable housing, supporting small businesses, advocating for social services for people in need, and protecting the quality of life of neighborhoods. We don't agree on every issue - but on issues that matter to our neighborhoods, he is the best choice for City Council."

Hello. Brad Lander has gone on the public record in recent years attacking Israel for its "occupation" of Palestinian territories, the Orthodox control over life cycle events in Israel, halachic definitions as to who is a Jew. He was also a contributor to Wrestling With Zion, a notorious anthology of outrageous Israel-bashing edited by the outspokenly anti-Israel playwright Tony Kushner. In that anthology, Lander described Israel as a "militarized state" and sympathized with the "so many people it oppresses daily."

Just recently The Jewish Press criticized President Obama for giving America's highest civilian award to Mary Robinson, a notorious critic of Israel who never seemed to find any redeeming value in the Jewish state. The president didn't deny her anti-Israel credentials but said that notwithstanding all that, she did much in other areas of human rights.

Hikind's carefully parsed words of support for Brad Lander are just as shameful. I wonder whether The Jewish Press will be criticizing him too. By the way, isn't this the same Dov Hikind who goes on the ramparts whenever even a hint of anti-Israel animus surfaces?

Roberta Klein
(Via E-Mail)

Hikind And Lander (II)

I don't know what political deals were involved or what benefits will flow from them, and I really don't really care. For me, Dov Hikind's endorsement of Brad Lander for City Council smacks of the most egregious kind of political opportunism. Lander's public statements put him on the wrong side of just about every issue our community considers important.

It would be merely troublesome if Hikind failed to oppose a vociferous critic of Israel and an outspoken opponent of Orthodox religious practice. That he has actually endorsed such a person is beyond belief.

Stuart Blumenthal
(Via E-Mail)

To me the most astute observation is this one by Mr. Blumenthal:

I don't know what political deals were involved or what benefits will flow from them, and I really don't really care. For me, Dov Hikind's endorsement of Brad Lander for City Council smacks of the most egregious kind of political opportunism.

Interestingly, I am much more sympathetic to many of Lander's positions than are the readers of the Jewish Press (who I suspect would be more in tune with another of Brad's rivals, John Heyer). Yet we agree that the kind of political deals that Lander is now infamous for, including the WFP scandal and Dov Hikind deal, not to mention ties to a key Pensiongate figure, are disgusting and precisely what we do NOT need in our City Council.