A spokesperson for Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) attacked Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington CEO Ron Halber by name, accusing the Jewish leader of being an “apologist for the Netanyahu government” in response to Halber’s own criticisms of the Maryland senator to reporters earlier Wednesday. 

In his role, Halber works to build bridges between the Jewish community in the Washington area and local elected officials. The comments reflect a remarkable breach between a leading representative of the D.C.-area Jewish community and a senator whom Halber said had once been an ally on a range of issues.

“Sen. Van Hollen, I think, has dramatically lost his way with support for Israel. He’s become the leading senator agitating against Israel in the United States Senate,” Halber told reporters at a JCRC breakfast event in Washington’s Maryland suburbs. “His social media is filled with a lack of empathy for Jewish suffering. It’s filled with a lack of empathy for Israel’s strategic position. It’s almost like [he] cannot wait for the next opportunity to jump down Israel’s throat.”

Halber said that the situation with Van Hollen is a “shame” because Van Hollen and the JCRC have worked together on a range of issues in the past, including funding for Jewish institutions and various domestic policy issues.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) and Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Glenn Ivey (D-MD) and April McClain Delaney (D-MD) were all in attendance at the breakfast, along with numerous local officials.

“I’m very upset about it, and so are many people in this room, because that’s not the Sen. Van Hollen that so many people in this room worked hard to get elected,” Halber continued. “On the issue of Israel, I would say the overwhelming majority of the Jewish community feels betrayed by the senator.”

The Van Hollen spokesperson fired back, accusing Halber of running cover for the Israeli government and failing to represent the range of viewpoints in Maryland’s Jewish community.

“Senator Van Hollen is committed to a values-based foreign policy that holds our friends and our adversaries to the same standards. That’s why he continues to support the people of Israel, but the actions of the Netanyahu Government have increasingly not aligned with our values,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“The Senator often speaks with Marylanders who hold varying perspectives here and has met on many occasions with families of hostages and victims of the heinous Hamas attacks of October 7th. Instead of representing the diversity of views that, in the Senator’s experience, are held by the Jewish community of Maryland, Ron Halber has become an apologist for the Netanyahu government.”

Halber said he’d had a two-hour meeting with Van Hollen a year ago, asking the senator to moderate his rhetoric by showing a greater level of “empathy” and “understanding” of the situation Israel and its people are facing — recommendations Halber said the senator had failed to implement, making Halber “angrier.”

“I think it’s very easy to stand with Israel when you’re crying over Jewish victims, but it’s harder to stand up with Israel when she’s doing the right thing,” Halber continued. “And I think the senator has shown a lack of strategic understanding of Israel’s dilemma. And I’m not saying he’s got to be Israel’s cheerleader, but it would be nice if he had more balance in his remarks.”

He said that many people have delivered a similar message to Van Hollen, asking him to offer greater acknowledgement of Israel’s struggles, but have instead received a “consistent, one-sided narrative.”

“The hard thing is to show up when your friends need you, and right now, we’ve needed him, and he hasn’t been there,” Halber concluded.

Responding to the Van Hollen spokesperson’s accusation that Halber’s views are unrepresentative of the Jewish community, the JCRC head emphasized that more than 60 elected officials joined the breakfast event, with similar participation expected at upcoming Virginia and D.C.-focused breakfasts, and that a diverse array of Jewish organizations — religiously and politically — participate in the JCRC and the gatherings.

“Our job is to articulate a representation that represents the broad swath and mainstream of the Jewish community, which I believe we successfully do, and I’m proud of our record,” Halber said. “[JCRC member organizations] all know that JCRC represents the community with dignity and with the greatest broadest consensus and inclusivity as possible. … I’m very proud of the ability of the JCRC to bring such a diverse Jewish community under one tent where they all feel comfortable and represented.”

At the JCRC breakfast, Halber won plaudits from Moore, Maryland’s Democratic governor, who praised him as a dependable sounding board and advisor on difficult issues. 

“When you’re debating, when you’re trying to understand the moment, when you’re trying to remember how we need to respond, when we are watching walls collapse among us, and who can help you get that clarity, even when I have to call him [Halber] at 11 o’clock at night,” Moore said. “By the end of the conversation, I’m lifted up.”