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Did NPR host Diane Rehm just accuse Bernie Sanders of dual citizenship with Israel?

by Jared Sichel

June 10, 2015 | 8:44 am

Diane Rehm. Facebook.

***This story has been updated. (June 11, 2:50 p.m. ET)

***A statement by Diane Rehm is posted at the bottom of this story. (June 10, 4 p.m. ET)

***A statement from Anti-Defamation League national director, Abe Foxman, is posted at the bottom. (June 10, 4:45 p.m. ET)

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On a Wednesday morning broadcast, longtime NPR host Diane Rehm interviewed presidential candidate and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and asked the Jewish self-described socialist some strange questions when it came to his connection with Israel.

Here’s the relevant exchange, linked here via YouTube if you want to listen for yourself: 

Diane Rehm: Senator, you have dual citizenship with Israel.

Bernie Sanders: Well, no I do not have dual citizenship with Israel. I'm an American. I don't know where that question came from. I am an American citizen, and I have visited Israel on a couple of occasions. No, I'm an American citizen, period.

Rehm: I understand from a list we have gotten that you were on that list.

Sanders: No.

Rehm: Forgive me if that is—

Sanders: That's some of the nonsense that goes on in the internet. But that is absolutely not true.

Rehm: Interesting. Are there members of Congress who do have dual citizenship or is that part of the fable?

Sanders: I honestly don't know but I have read that on the internet. You know, my dad came to this country from Poland at the age of 17 without a nickel in his pocket. He loved this country. I am, you know, I got offended a little bit by that comment, and I know it's been on the internet. I am obviously an American citizen and I do not have any dual citizenship.

I'll seek comment from Diane Rehm on why she, or whoever prepared the interview, thought Sanders has Israeli citizenship. The question itself suggests that Rehm may have been trying to imply some type of dual loyalty on Sanders’s part.

A cursory search on Google of “Bernie Sanders Israeli citizenship” shows that his name comes up in the comments section of the “We are all Vittorio Arrigoni” Facebook page. Arrigoni was an Italian pro-Palestinian activist who was kidnapped and murdered by non-Hamas Islamists in Gaza in April 2011. In the comments section of the Facebook page, on May 2 a user posted a list of senators and representatives who “have both Israel and U.S. citizenships.” Sanders is on the list. No source is given because the list is a total fabrication, not to mention created by an anti-Semite and anti-Zionist, which is given away by the fact that it says “Jewish Lobby”, “#israelwarcrime”, “AIPAC: Buying Congress one seat at a time”, “Rothschild”, and features an American flag with a Star of David replacing the 50 stars.

Is this Diane Rehm's authoritative list of Israeli members of Congress?

If this is in fact the “list” that Rehm was referring to, it’s a remarkable feat of shoddy and lazy journalism.

While this is not a repeat of that time veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas went on an anti-Semitic, anti-Israel diatribe, one wonders why in the world one of America’s most successful radio journalists baselessly asked (or accused, depending on your view) a senator and presidential candidate why he has Israeli citizenship.

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Update: June 10. 4 p.m. ET

Diane Rehm sent the following statement:

"On today's show I made a mistake. Rather than asking Senator and Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders whether he had dual U.S./Israeli citizenship, as I had read in a comment on Facebook, I stated it as fact.

He corrected me, saying he did not know where the question came from. I apologized immediately.  

I want to apologize as well to all our listeners for having made an erroneous statement. I am sorry for the mistake. However, I am glad to play a role in putting this rumor to rest."

Abe Foxman sent the following statement:

“Diane Rehm’s questions were inappropriate, insensitive questioning without any minimal journalistic checking of claims. Such a statement is not only factually incorrect, but has no place in such an interview.

“It is deeply troubling to think that a well-respected media outlet like NPR would apparently rely on unsubstantiated information from the Internet in its preparation for a guest.

“Ms. Rehm’s description and follow-up question about whether other Senators have dual citizenship with Israel play into classic anti-Semitic charges of dual loyalty. Such charges have been leveled for centuries and have been a catalyst for scapegoating and vilifying Jews.

“Senator Sanders deserves a public apology, as do NPR listeners.”

And after seeing Rehm's statement, he added:

“Her mistake was to not research it before she even stated it as fact.  She shouldn’t have asked the question, period.  Had she researched it, she wouldn’t have raised it at all.  Because her question challenges not only his loyalty, but also Jewish loyalties to this country.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Jared is a staff reporter for the Jewish Journal. Raised in North Potomac, MD, a sleepy suburb 30 minutes outside Washington D.C., Jared attended Tulane University in America’s...

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