‘Zionist millionaires’ in Riverdale control Ritchie Torres, rival says

Seeking to unseat Rep. Ritchie Torres in this year’s Democratic primary, Jose Vega released a campaign video last week alleging that Zionists in Riverdale “bought and controlled” Torres and are keeping the Bronx poor.

Torres, whose district includes both Riverdale and poorer Bronx neighborhoods, has been a bold advocate for Israel and the fight against antisemitism, as well as various progressive causes.

In the video, Erik Warsaw, a conspiracist who traffics in assertions that cast Jews in a poor light, asked Vega how is it that “the Bronx is one of the poorest districts in America, but also has some of the richest Zionist millionaires in America too.”

“Because rich people like to live in areas where they can buy the politicians easily, like Ritchie Torres, who is bought and controlled by Zionist influencers and millionaires who all live in Riverdale,” answered Vega, noting that beyond Riverdale, “this district, being one of the poorest congressional districts, has the lowest voter turnout rate. So the less people that vote, the easier it is to buy a politician.”

Torres responded to the video: “My opposition sees antisemitism not as a tragedy, but as a strategy.”

He added that “no amount of defamation or disinformation will ever shame me out of representing every community in my district. We are One Bronx, and no amount of Jew-hatred will divide us.”

Deborah Lipstadt, former US special antisemitism envoy, agreed with Torres’ assessment.

“Once, if someone said something antisemitic and it became public, they apologized. Sometimes profusely,” she said. “Recently, they just shrug their shoulders and deny it is antisemitism (‘Oh, it’s only criticism of Israel’). Now, as Ritchie Torres correctly notes, it’s become a strategy.”

“It takes a lot of chutzpah for someone who wants to represent significant black and Jewish communities to link up with a neo-Nazi,” Yaakov Kaplan, vice chair of Brooklyn Community Board 12, said of Vega collaborating with Warsaw on the video. Warsaw’s Jew-baiting includes his assertion that Israel played a role in the 9/11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans. Only four Jews died at the World Trade Center because the Jewish community had advance knowledge of the attacks, Warsaw has said. In fact, at least 200 Jews are believed to be among those who died.

“Israel owes an apology and reparations,” Warsaw has said. “Sept. 11, never forget, never forgive, and put the blame where the blame is really due. … We have a common enemy, we all need to see that.”

“They want to keep the conversation away from the ugly fact that Ritchie Torres was made the congressman to keep the War Party in place, and the Bronx poor,” Vega said. “And he works for the people that want to keep the Bronx poor, period.”