Hillary Clinton promised to "fight back against" the anti-Israel boycott movement, calling it "harmful" to both Israelis and Palestinians in a letter to one of her top donors last week.
"I am writing to express my alarm over the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, or ‘BDS,’ a global effort to isolate the State of Israel by ending commercial and academic exchanges," Clinton wrote in the July 2 letter, which was released by Clinton mega-donor Haim Saban on Monday.
"As you know, BDS seeks to punish Israel and dictate how the Israelis and Palestinians should resolve the core issues of their conflict. This is not the path to peace," Clinton added.
The presidential candidate asked Saban, an entertainment mogul and prominent pro-Israel advocate, for recommendations "on how leaders and communities across America can work together to counter BDS." She also vowed to make this a "priority" and said she would "be speaking out publicly on this issue in the weeks ahead."
Clinton’s letter comes just days after the Obama administration said it would not enforce aspects of a new law to fight the BDS movement that was passed by Congress.
Saban recently gave $2 million to a pro-Clinton super PAC and hosted a fundraiser at his home for the Democratic candidate earlier this spring.
Politico reported last week that Clinton has privately indicated to donors that she will be a stronger supporter of Israel than Obama, but she has yet to take a clear stance on the Iran nuclear deal.
Pro-Israel advocates welcomed the letter but called on Clinton to clarify her position on the recent anti-BDS law and the Iran deal.
"This is a welcome statement, although Clinton is wrong about the BDS movement's real goal. It is not to ‘punish’ Israel, but to destroy Israel," said Noah Pollak, executive director of the Emergency Committee for Israel. "She should state whether she agrees with the Obama administration's rebuke of the anti-BDS provision in the recently passed trade bill. And needless to say, it will be impossible for Clinton to claim to be a pro-Israel candidate if she comes out in favor of Obama's Iran deal."
Clinton also wrote that she was "very concerned by attempts to compare Israel to South African apartheid." Her successor at the State Department, John Kerry, made this comparison in closed-door remarks to the Trilateral Commission last year.
Additionally, Clinton noted that she opposed the 2009 Goldstone Report, a paper written by a United Nations commission that accused Israel of war crimes. The author of the report, Richard Goldstone, later backed away from those allegations.
She also condemned anti-Semitism in Europe, writing that Jews were "targeted and killed at a Kosher supermarket in Paris." The Obama administration initially declined to say the January terrorist attack on the Jewish deli was directed at Jews, calling it "random."
Saban, an owner of Univision, recently launched a heavily funded effort to counter the BDS movement, along with Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson.
Saban said in a press statement that Clinton’s letter "proves her unwavering commitment to Israel and the Jewish community."