Hikind mocks ‘Shomer’ Schumer

Pressure mounts as New York's Jewish senator waffles on Iran deal

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Boro Park Assemblyman Dov Hikind repeatedly mocked New York’s Jewish Senator at an anti-Iran-nuke forum in North Woodmere on Sunday night, calling on the self-professed Shomer Yisroel (guardian of Israel) to get off the fence and do his job.

Charles Shumer, who is expected to lead the Senate’s Democrats after Harry Reid retires, has repeatedly told Jewish crowds that his name, Schumer, means shomer -(watchman, in Hebrew) and that he takes that role seriously.

Although he proclaimed at Achiezer’s gala dinner in March that “if there’s a bad agreement, Congress should have the ability to undo it,” he’s been noncommittal since the deal was announced.

“I will always be Shomer Yisroel,” Schumer pledged in March. “I will do everything I can to see that Am Yisroel chai.”

Hikind slamed Schumer’s reluctance to speak out against the deal, pointing to the senator’s absence from his usual spot in front of TV cameras on Sunday.

Hinkind urged New Yorkers to bombard the senator with phone calls demanding not only that he vote against the pact, but that he help mobilize Senate opposition in sufficient numbers to override President Obama’s promised veto.

Other Jewish communal leaders also piled on Schumer this week. In a commercial on New York cable news programs, the Emergency Committee for Israel  displays Schumer’s phone number and urges, “Call Sen. Schumer and tell him he must stand firm.”

Sunday night’s forum, at Temple Hillel, energized South Shore opponents of the Iran deal ahead of Wednesday’s massive rally in Times Square.

Participating with Hikind was Rep. Lee Zeldin of Suffolk — the only Jewish Republican in the House — and ZOA President Morton Klein.

Zeldin agreed that pressure must be applied on New York’s senior senator, pointing out that the fate of the deal in Congress is up to the Democrats. He urged everyone who is represented by a Democrat, has contributed to a Democrat, or has a special relationship with a Democratic official, to reach out to that official.

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