Chair Hildy Angius declared the Yucca man an enemy during Tuesday's Mohave County Board of Supervisors meeting in Kingman. She slammed Greg Belfort after speaking out against his proposal for Mohave County to adopt a resolution asserting the right of Israel to support the people and state of Israel and protect them from terrorist attacks in the Middle East.
Befort told Angius she was misinformed and misguided.
“We're being deceived about this conflict like we are about everything else,” Befort said. “Israel is a Zionist, apartheid state.”
Befor also claimed that Israeli influence has infiltrated President Joe Biden's administration and is controlling the United States.
“Now bring out the anti-Semitic stuff,” Befort protested. “Go ahead. You know what to do with that. This has nothing to do with anti-Semitism.”
“Thank you, Mr. Befort. As a Jew, I now know that you are my mortal enemy,” she said.
Angius also mentioned demonstrators at the Arizona State Capitol as Congress convened for the 2024 session on Jan. 2.
“Just like the Palestinian protesters who were there on the first day, I consider you my enemy,” she said.
James Jones of Kingman accused Angius of “bringing his religion” into board meetings and county government by introducing the resolution.
“I'm America first,” Jones said. “This is not America First. It is globalism and it is divisive.”
Jennifer Esposito of Kingman said the previous Mohave County Second Amendment and Sanctuary County declarations, as well as the new proposed pro-Israel declaration, are unenforceable, ineffective and essentially “meaningless.” said.
Golden Valley resident Steve Robinson sided with Angius. He said her resolution has nothing to do with Zionism and serves as a symbolic statement against violence, murder and other atrocities committed by Hamas.
The board voted 4-1 to adopt the resolution. Supervisor Gene Bishop disagreed, arguing that the International Political Declaration was beyond the scope of Mohave County government.
Mr. Angius also drew backlash for suggesting he would consider moving forward with an end to the public call rather than the start of the Mohave County Board meeting. There was little support for conference reform, so she effectively withdrew the proposal.
“I wanted to talk about it. I wanted to hear your insights,” she said. “I will be asking the board to take no action.”
Angius said discussion of this issue could lead to other board meeting format changes to better balance the need to allow citizen comment while handling business during supervisory meetings. He said that there is.
Director Chris Rodarte of Kingman said he spends a significant amount of time conducting research and creating public appeal presentations to make the most of three minutes to educate the board. told the people.
“In many cases, I am forced to warn others about unconstitutional decisions being made in this county,” Rodarte said.
Topock resident Karen de Shazer expressed her views by quoting Tom Hanks' infamous line from the movie Forrest Gump.
“In my opinion, an appeal to the public is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get,” said De Shazer. “This is the best part of the Supervisory Board meeting.”
