Congressional candidate Erik Dilan is slamming long-time Rep. Nydia Velazquez as being anti-Zionist as the Democratic primary in Brooklyn heats up.

“I’m shocked at her apathy toward Israel and her voting record,” Dilan said of his opponent, whom he is giving her first significant challenge in decades. “I’m shocked that a member of the New York delegation takes these types of positions. It’s obviously something that we will have in contrast.”

Specifically Dilan was referring to Velazquez’s refusal to sign the 2010 Jackson-Pence letter urging Pres. Obama to place “crippling” sanctions on Iran – a major foe of Israel – because of its nuclear ambitions, her refusal last year to sign a letter encouraging sanctions against Syria and her abstention of a vote to condemn the Goldstone Report, which was widely viewed as anti-Israel.

She also voted against the 2006 Palestinian anti-Terrorism Act which urged members of the international community to refrain from financially supporting Hamas or the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Authority until the terrorist organization agrees to recognize Israel.

Dilan called her record on Israel “apathetic at best” and said it is a concern to many Jews in the district.

Velazquez’s spokesman, George Arzt, called her “a proud supporter of Israel throughout her career in Congress” and said Dilan “never said a word – not one word – about Israel until political ambition kissed him on the lips.”

Arzt pointed out that Velazquez signed a 2011 letter to Obama supporting Israel in the wake of Middle East uprisings and the administration’s effort to promote democracy in the region.

She also supported the Syria Accountability Act of 2002, prohibiting the president from exporting weapons or other goods to Syria and requiring the prohibition stay in place until Syria meets certain requirements, including negotiations toward a peace agreement with Israel. (Copyright 2012 NYP Holdings, Inc. 05/10/12)