4/1/2019
By Ivan Pereira
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson announced late Monday that Brooklyn Councilman Kalman Yeger will be removed from his seat on the immigration committee following his anti-Palestiine tweets last week.
Yeger refused to apologize for the tweets that said, “Palestine does not exist,” despite numerous calls from Mayor Bill de Blasio, Johnson and other elected officials. The Council’s top leaders held a meeting Monday to discuss the controversy, and concluded that Yeger’s immigration committee seat should be revoked, according to a source with knowledge of the meeting.
Johnson confirmed Yeger’s pending removal in an emailed statement, reiterating that his comments were “dehumanizing to Palestinians.”
“I do not believe that someone who engages in the type of rhetoric we heard from Council Member Yeger belongs on the Immigration Committee, which is supposed to welcome and support immigrants in our city. What he said is totally inappropriate, and sends the wrong message about our values,” he said in a statement.
Yeger’s office did not provide an immediate response to the decision.
On Thursday, a group of protesters outside Yeger’s Brooklyn office clashed with his supporters who had staged a counter-rally.
