In her piece for Medium, former Santa Cruz County, Calif., assistant district attorney Anastasia Torres-Gil, a Hadassah National Board member, discusses a tour of Israel that Representative Ro Khanna, a Silicon Valley progressive Democrat, took with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in February. As soon as Khanna stepped on Israeli soil, he called for a two-state solution. Those in favor of this solution to a seemingly intractable problem were delighted, but Torres-Gil found their delight to be more anti-Israel than anything else. It upsets Torres-Gil that the new normal is to discourage people from getting a firsthand look at the facts. She attended Hadassah’s Day in the District program with Khanna, and when someone criticized his perceived lack of support for Israel, he countered that he had broken ranks with the progressives in the House of Representatives when he condemned the BDS movement. Says Torres-Gil, “Yes, Representative Khanna criticizes Israel,” noting that she herself is critical of Israel on certain issues, just as she is critical of the US on certain issues, “And we may have to agree to disagree on some issues.” Nonetheless, she adds, “I am a proud and committed American and Zionist.”
Anastasia Torres-Gilis a member of the HADASSAH WRITERS’ CIRCLE, a program of Hadassah’s Media & Public Relations Office that offers Hadassah’s volunteer leaders, members and professional staff a way to share their thoughts and feeling about Hadassah’s work in the United States and Israel.