In an interview with “NJ PBS News,” Rep.-elect Adam Hamawy (D-N.J.) was asked whether Israel has a right to exist. He replied that Israel “currently exists,” calling the question repetitive and “a moot argument.” Hamawy said every country has a right to exist, but added that governments should guarantee equal rights, civil liberties and human rights to their people. He also defended earlier comparisons he made between Iran and the United States, as well as his refusal to describe Iran as an adversary.
“My perspective is that I don’t take a binary view on all these issues,” Hamawy said. “Americans, last week, voted that they don’t want war. We want to focus on domestic policy, on making American lives better and on improving safety for Americans. Creating enemies around the world is not the way to do that.”
Host Rob Nelson pressed Hamawy on his previous interview, noting that he had been asked five times whether Iran was an adversary. “I’ll ask you a sixth time,” Nelson said. “Is Iran an adversary, and why don’t you want to say that? Obviously, you don’t believe it is.”
Hamawy said the United States should avoid creating adversaries. “It’s not a binary yes-or-no thing,” he said. “We are provoking and creating the situation we’re in right now, where we’re at war, and that is making life worse for Americans. It is also clearly making life worse for ordinary Iranians, who are suffering as well. So how do we get out of this? We don’t do it by simply pointing to a country and declaring it an adversary. We need to ask how we can improve conditions for both Americans and Iranians.”
Nelson also revisited an exchange Hamawy had on CNN. During that discussion, Hamawy responded to references to Iran’s decadeslong “death to America” rhetoric by saying the United States had used similar language toward Iran. When told that Iran had killed Americans, Hamawy replied that the United States had killed Iranians. “To be clear,” Nelson asked, “when you consider the actions and rhetoric of both countries, do you see a moral equivalence between America and Iran?”
Hamawy pointed to remarks by President Trump calling for Iran to be nuked. “That is a genocidal statement—that we are going to destroy their civilization and bomb them out of existence,” he said. “I think the rhetoric on both sides should end because it is not productive.”
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The conversation then shifted to Israel. Nelson asked Hamawy directly whether he believed Israel had the right to exist as a Jewish state.
“It currently exists,” Hamawy said, repeating that he viewed the question as one that had been asked too many times. “I think every country has a right to exist, but it should provide equal rights, civil liberties and human rights to its people. So it currently exists. It’s a moot argument. What we should want is something like the United States, where everyone can coexist and enjoy the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That’s what we should be promoting around the world.”
Nelson challenged the answer by comparing it to responses from Republicans who, when asked whether Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election, say only that Biden was sworn in as president. “That’s not what I asked,” Nelson said. “I asked whether the election was fair. On the question of Israel, we all know that it exists. The question is whether it should exist.”
Hamawy questioned why the interview had focused so heavily on Israel. “I was elected as a representative from New Jersey to serve the people of New Jersey and people across the United States,” he said. “I want my tax dollars used to build a healthcare system that works, provide education and childcare, and unrig the economy. I don’t want ICE agents roaming our streets and killing Americans. Yet we have spent this entire interview talking about Israel. Honestly, I care more about the American people and what is happening here at home.”
Hamawy added that “everyone has a right to exist, but everyone needs to follow the laws.”
