During a national radio interview on Wednesday night, Breitbart Jerusalem bureau chief Aaron Klein revealed specific instances in which he says Steve Bannon encouraged him to cover stories exposing anti-Semitism and anti-Israel trends on U.S. college campuses.
Klein called Bannon a “warrior dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism” and asserted that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has “disgraced” itself by baselessly smearing Bannon for allegedly associating with anti-Semites.
Listen to the full radio interview here:
Speaking on the John Batchelor Show, Klein related:
I have been working with Steve directly for about a year. I’ve known him for quite some time and we have become really close friends aside from just our professional relationship. So, I know him intimately and professionally. To me this is just the exact opposite of the truth and the exact opposite of everything that I have experienced with Steve.
First of all, Steve Bannon was the driving force behind recruiting me to Breitbart Jerusalem and one of his main goals was to shine the light of accuracy, let us say, on what is going on here in the Middle East; but especially the distorted, despicable reporting when it comes to Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. So, it was with Bannon’s encouragement that we opened Breitbart Jerusalem. And actually, to hear the word “anti-Semitism” associated with Bannon, I would say the only association in a sentence that it should have is that Steve Bannon fights anti-Semitism. Because that’s what I have personally experienced. I can tell you scores of stories that he pushed for us to do at Breitbart Jerusalem, highlighting, in fact he was deeply concerned about the growing trend of anti-Semitism on U.S. college campuses. Boycott Israel movement on U.S. college campuses.
Just in one of so many examples I can tell you that there was one day when I came back from touring in the West Bank and also visiting in Jerusalem. It was like 1 a.m. my time here in Israel. And Steve had heard about an association that day between Bard College and Al-Quds University in eastern sections of Jerusalem, and their support that day for a specific event that actually promoted Hamas. Hamas terrorists. He was infuriated. He wanted me to do something right away. Again, this was one o’clock in the morning my time. And I did. And he wanted me to stay on this story. And nobody knows this. People don’t know about his specific involvement in these kinds of things.
So, to hear a warrior dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism being speared this way to me I just see this as the exact opposite of reality. It’s an Alice Through the Looking Glass inversion, in fact, of reality. Also, I can tell you so many specific other stories of Bannon pushing me to cover even further the issue of boycotting the Jewish state; exposing who is behind the boycott of the Jewish state. I also think that in this case the ADL has really disgraced themselves. …
Right now, Israel has I would say one of the strongest champions for the Jewish state and also of course for American values in the White House. So, those who care about Israel I believe can actually sleep better at night knowing that Steve Bannon is the White House Chief Strategist.