The driving force of this grouping is Brooklyn Councilman Brad Lander. The Jewish Press strongly opposed Mr. Lander when he first ran for the Council in 2009. We noted his public identification with the Palestinian cause and his dismissal of bris milah as an anachronistic and divisive act of child abuse. He has since become a regular contributor to The Nation magazine, one of the most virulently anti-Israel publications around. In our view, not only were the two anti-NYPD measures developed by Mr. Lander’s caucus, they would not have been passed without its support.
Mr. Lander was supported by some Orthodox public figures who told our community that he had turned over a new leaf. Since that is plainly not the case, we hope those supporters will now use any remaining influence they have with him to put him on the right path.
Kudos to Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. for refusing to report the measures out of his committee. Sadly, a discharge motion by the pro-legislation juggernaut in order to bypass his committee succeeded.