Uri Ariel, Israel’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, has written to incoming White House Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor Stephen K. Bannon to offer his support.
In a letter obtained by Breitbart News, written on a letterhead from the Israeli Knesset, Ariel ignores the controversy surrounding false allegations that Bannon, and Breitbart News, are antisemitic, and thanks Bannon for supporting Israel.
Ariel is a member of Israel’s HaBayit HaYehudi (“Jewish Home”) Party, which is seen as somewhat more conservative than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party.
The text of the letter, dated November 18, follows:
Dear Mr. Bannon,
I wanted to express my support and thanks for your friendship with Israel.
While we do not know each other personally, dear friends of mine including Rabbi Shmuley Boteach have shared with me your strong opposition to the Iran nuclear agreement, which threatens Israel’s survival, your opposition to BDS and your opening of a Jerusalem bureau in Israel while head of Breitbart in order to promote Israeli point of view in the media.
No doubt there are many areas of disagreement between us, but on this we agree:
Israel, as the Middle East’s only democracy, must always have the strongest international support.
Yours sincerely,
Uri Ariel
Member of Isareli Knesset
Bannon is Executive Chairman of Breitbart News. He has been on a leave of absence since August, when he took up the position of CEO of Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign.
President-elect Trump has since retained Bannon as a senior advisor.
In an interview in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal, Bannon dismisses the recent controversy: “Breitbart is the most pro-Israel site in the United States of America.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. His new book, See No Evil: 19 Hard Truths the Left Can’t Handle, is available from Regnery through Amazon. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.