Daily Alert Archives

Newfound Jewish Roots Gave Kerry a "Deep" Bond with Israel

(Times of Israel) Raphael Ahren - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says his feelings toward Israel changed 10 years ago, after he found out that he had Jewish grandparents. "It's a connection that's deep. I lost a great-uncle in the Holocaust and a great-aunt. I never knew that until then. To learn that, after years of being passionate about 'never again,' with respect to the Holocaust, and then to understand that you are biologically and personally connected to that, is very moving," he said in an interview aired Thursday by Israel's Channel 2. Kerry found out in 2004, when he was running for president against George W. Bush, that both his father's parents were born Jews and converted to Christianity because of anti-Semitism, and they changed their name from Cohen to Kerry when they immigrated to the U.S. Kerry added in the interview, "I have no argument with anyone in Israel who says that no deal is better than a bad deal. I say that myself....I'm not in the business of trying to put together a bad deal."
2014-02-21 00:00:00
Full Article