30 | MARCH 5 • 2020 WASHINGTON — Although he was off campaigning hundreds of miles away, no one had a big- ger presence on the opening day of the American Israel Political Action Committee’ s annual con- ference than Bernie Sanders. The self-described “demo- cratic socialist” from Vermont and current frontrunner for the Democratic Party’ s presidential nomination was repeatedly invoked Sunday, March 1, and almost always as a looming threat to AIPAC’ s policy agenda. While AIPAC has been a mainstay stop for presidential candidates — former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg addressed the conference Monday, and former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Amy Klobuchar sent video messages — Sanders has openly tussled with the group, which he’ s accused of giving space to speakers who “express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights. ” Many speakers fired back at Sanders, both directly and indirectly. Danny Danon, Israel’ s ambassador to the United Nations, opened the conference calling Sanders an “ignorant fool” who wouldn’ t be welcome in the country. “We don’ t want Sanders in Israel, ” Danon said. Even AIPAC’ s progressive pol- itics panels had an anti-Sanders mood. “[Sanders] will say he’ s pro- Israel, but then he has surrogates who have said things very criti- cal of Israel, ” said Ann Lewis, a longtime Democratic operative who now co-chairs Democratic Majority for Israel, which recently launched an advertising campaign against Sanders. “We Democrats have a proud history of supporting the U.S.-Israel relationship. That’ s not going to change. ” The afternoon’ s big speakers didn’ t mention Sanders by name, but their jabs at the Vermont senator were still apparent, with Betsy Berns Korn, AIPAC’ s newly appointed president, say- ing the group is now “in a fight. ” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) got one of the biggest applauses when he said that “as a party, Democrats in the House stand solidly with Israel and the right of every Israeli to live in O n Monday, March 2, Israelis headed to the polls for the third time in less than a year to par- ticipate in a national election. But some of the government’ s emissaries in Michigan weren’ t holding out hope for a differ- ent outcome. “I think we are going to end up with the same result as the previous two elections, ” Nina Yahalomi Klevitsky, senior com- munity shlicha for the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit (JFMD), told the Jewish News. “There has even been some talk about a fourth elec- tion, but I really hope that these leaders will all sit in a room and figure this out. ” Klevitsky was sent to Michigan in 2017 by the Jewish Agency for Israel, a nonprofit organization that operates in collaboration with the State of Israel to bring Israeli culture and educational resources to the Metro Detroit community. She’ s one of many Israelis currently living in Michigan who have watched the country’ s last sev- eral months of political chaos from afar. The two prior standoffs between sitting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’ s Likud party and challenger Benny Gantz’ s Blue and White party, which began with the first election in April 2019, have each ended with deadlock. The election’ s winners have thus far been unable to form a majority coalition in Israel’ s parliament, the Knesset. Under Israeli law, failure to form a 61-seat coali- tion triggers another election. Although there are Israelis living in Metro Detroit, not many of them can vote in the Israeli national elections, or even if they can, they often choose not to. “In order to vote, you have three conditions that must exist,” Klevitsky said. “[The voter] needs to be over 18, be a citizen of Israel and must have an address or a residence in Israel.” There are no absentee ballots, which means that any Israelis in the U.S. not on behalf of the government must fly back to Israel for the elections if they wish to vote. “Most Israelis here don’ t have the right to go back and vote. But, even if they do have that right, most Israelis here will not pay thousands of dollars to fly back to Israel just to participate in the election, ” Klevitsky said. Since Klevitsky has been sent abroad on behalf of the State of Israel on a specific mission, she and her husband do not have to travel back to Israel to vote. Instead, they COURTESY OF NINA YAHALOMI KLEVITSKY Another Election? Michigan’s Israelis Sigh Local missionaries express frustration over latest deadlock. CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER COUR Nina Yahalomi Klevitsky casts her ballot in Chicago for Israel’ s national election. eretz brought to you in partnership with www.WalkForIsrael.org Join us. Sunday, May 3, 2020 At AIPAC Conference, Sanders is a Shonda BENJAMIN FREED CONTRIBUTING WRITER