California State Senator Scott Wiener accused Israel of genocide in Gaza in a Sunday video statement, adopting the position of the other Democrat candidates vying for Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi's seat following a Thursday candidate debate that saw him jeered for indecision on the matter.
Referencing his reticence at the California 11th district San Francisco Congressional Candidate Forum to take a position, Wiener stated on Sunday that he did "believe Israel has committed genocide in Gaza."
The California State Senator explained that he had been reluctant to call the war between Israel and Hamas a genocide because of the term's creation in response to the Holocaust and the trauma of applying the word to the Jewish state.
"We all have eyes and we see the absolute devastation and catastrophic death toll in Gaza inflicted by the Israeli government, and we all have ears and we hear the genocidal statements by certain senior members of the Israeli government, and to me the Israeli government has tried to destroy Gaza and to push Palestinians out, and that qualifies as genocide," said Wiener.
The state senator noted that he had opposed the war in Gaza prior to that moment, stopping short of describing the war following the October 7 massacre as a genocide. In August, he decried the Israeli government for "inflicting devastation in Gaza" and in September called the military advance on Gaza City "abhorrent and unacceptable."
Genocide accusation comes after Wiener's second thoughts
Wiener's genocide accusation came after a lightning round of questions at the Thursday San Francisco debate, in which candidates were given policy questions and expected to hold placards indicating either a "yes" or "no" response.
When the question arose of "is Israel committing genocide in Gaza," San Francisco Board Supervisor Connie Chan and political activist Saikat Chakrabarti signaled "yes," but Wiener didn't raise his placard. Wiener's response was met with boos and heckles from the audience, who called "shame" and demanded that he answer the question.
Wiener's rivals highlighted the moment, with Chan noting that she had voted on a January 2024 Board of Supervisors resolution demanding a ceasefire, and promised to support a congressional bill to block the transfer of munitions from the US to Israel.
Chakrabarti said that the instance was indicative of the nature of the congressional race, "because you can't call out a genocide when the whole world sees one, how can we trust you in DC?"
"The vast majority of people in this country want to stop American taxpayer dollars from funding a genocide in Gaza," said Chakrabarti, adding in writing on Instagram that he stood "with the UN, Amnesty International, and genocide scholars around the world: what’s happening in Gaza is a genocide."
Pelosi, who has been described by several leading Israeli politicians as a friend of Israel, announced in November that she would not be seeking reelection to office. The key Democrat player and former House speaker represented San Francisco for almost four decades.