Late political giant Joe Lieberman was working until the last day of his life on a joint statement warning Democrats that they would not be able to count on Jewish votes if they abandoned Israel, Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz, who was involved in the statement, told Newsmax on Thursday.
"This is probably the last thing he ever wrote," Dershowitz told Newsmax's "American Agenda," showing the document. "These are his handwriting, interlineations, just two or three hours before he fell and then he died."
Dershowitz shared the document in Thursday's Wall Street Journal, one day after Lieberman, 82, died from complications after a fall in his home.
"It's a warning to President [Joe] Biden saying you can't count on pro-Israel Jewish votes, and you can't mortgage our votes to what we call the two-state solution, namely Michigan and Minnesota," Dershowitz said. "Being fearful of losing a couple of hundred thousand Muslim and Arab votes in Michigan, we think has caused a lot of changes in the attitude. So Joe and I were working on a statement when I learned about his death, and I published the statement today in The Wall Street Journal, and we're going to continue in his memory."
In the statement, with Lieberman's edits, the colleagues said they appreciated Biden's statements after the Oct. 7 Hamas "barbarisms" against Israel and that they believe Israel must be allowed to disable Hamas.
"We have become concerned about what appears to be a weakening of support for Israel by President Biden, Vice President [Kamala] Harris, and some other leading Democrats," they said in the statement. "We are especially concerned about the possibility that some of this weakening may be influenced by domestic political fears of losing electoral support from anti-Israel voters who have threatened to stay home unless the Biden administration pulls away from Israel."
The statement continued that Jewish voters want to continue supporting Democrat candidates, but if they abandon Israel to gain the support of "anti-Israel extremists within the Democratic Party, it will be difficult for us to support Democrats who are on the ballot this November."
"We discussed that literally just hours before he fell into a coma," Dershowitz told Newsmax, saying he and Lieberman wanted to return Democrats to a "pro-Israel position so that Israel remains a bipartisan issue rather than becoming an issue that divides Democrats from Republicans."
Dershowitz added that he thinks losing Lieberman makes it harder for parties to work together, as he was the person representing bringing people together.
"He was actually offered the vice presidential nomination on a Republican ticket with [John] McCain but ultimately decided not to do that," said Dershowitz. "He's probably the only man in American history who could have been a vice presidential nominee of both Democrats and Republicans because he didn't think as a Democrat or a Republican, he thought as a loyal and patriotic American."
Lieberman was an Orthodox Jew, said Dershowitz, meaning he "didn't work on the Shabbat [but] got more work done in six days than people get done in a month."
"If he had remained healthy and viable and alive, I think he could have had a big impact on bringing Americans together," said Dershowitz. "I pledge to honor his memory by trying my best with other people to do that, particularly on the issue of Israel, which he cared about so much."
Dershowitz added that he returned from Israel on Wednesday after having met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other leaders, and they talked about Lieberman "having probably the most important voice" when it comes to Israel.
"The voices that were so important on behalf of Israel, Elie Wiesel, he's gone. Joe, he's gone," said Dershowitz. "Many of us have to try to pick up that slack and continue to do it in his memory."
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