Gabriel Boric Font, 35, is the presumed president-elect of Chile, having won 55.5% of the votes in Sunday’s election, over his Conservative opponent José Antonio Kast with 44.48%. Kast finished ahead of Boric in the first round of voting in November but lost in the second. Boric ran on the ticket of the Broad Front, a leftist coalition he created with several like-minded parties.
In a televised appearance with outgoing President Sebastian Pinera, Boric said: “I am going to be the president of all Chileans.”
Here’s the thing, though: in the tweet below, which includes the picture of a gift basket the Jewish community of Chile sent him for Rosh Hashanah, Boric wrote above the image:
La Comunidad Judía en Chile me envía un tarrito de miel por el año nuevo judio, reafirmando su compromiso cn “una sociedad más inclusiva, solidaria y respetuosa”. Agradezco el gesto pero podrían partir por pedirle a Israel que devuelva el territorio palestino ilegalmente ocupado. pic.twitter.com/rtb1dt8QRP
— Gabriel Boric Font (@gabrielboric)
“The Jewish Community in Chile sends me a jar of honey for the Jewish New Year, reaffirming its commitment to ‘a more inclusive, supportive and respectful society.’ I appreciate the gesture but they could have done more by asking Israel to return the illegally occupied Palestinian territory.”
What a charmer.
During his presidential campaign, Boric met with members of the Jewish community in Chile (18,300 members) and called Israel a “murderous state.” He also met with the president of the Palestinian community in Chile (350,000 members) and signed a statement supporting a Palestinian state.
Chilean Jewish voters could read between the lines and receive the loud and clear message that when the leftist candidate says Israel, he means Jews. So many of them supported Kast, who is quite to the right of center and used to be a supporter of former dictator Augusto Pinochet. His parents came to Chile from Bavaria in 1950, his father was a lieutenant in the Wehrmacht and a member of the Nazi Party. Lots of Nazi folks fled to Chile in 150, during the Allied’s denazification of Germany.
Not an enviable situation.