Secretary of State Mike Pompeo weighed in on the recent anti-Semitism controversy surrounding Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) on Thursday.
The top diplomat rebuked Omar’s “abhorrent” comments about Israel and its alleged influence in American politics. “It’s a great concern to me,” Pompeo said. “This administration speaks the truth, and anti-Semitism is unacceptable in any form from anyone, but to see it come from one of America’s leaders is just abhorrent.”
Pompeo blasts Omar remarks
In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network in Jerusalem, Pompeo lamented that anti-Semitism is on the rise throughout the world, and particularly that this vile hatred had found a home in the United States Congress. Pompeo was in Israel to meet with top officials.
“To see this from a member of Congress like Congresswoman Omar is — I talked about this being dark,” Pompeo said. “The rise of anti-Semitism in the United States and in Europe and in, frankly, all across the world is something that is deeply troubling, and to see someone, a duly elected congressman, behave in that way, to speak about anti-Semitism in that way, is of great concern.”
Omar ignited significant blowback over her comments about Israel’s influence in American politics, which critics say are anti-Semitic. She was criticized in February and again in early March when she said that pro-Israel American politicians have an “allegiance to a foreign country,” which many said invoked anti-Semitic tropes of “dual loyalties.” Those comments came after Omar suggested that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) bought up the loyalty of American lawmakers in tweets.
For her part, Omar apologized for her initial AIPAC comments but refused to apologize the second time around, characterizing her comments as a policy critique of America’s relationship with Israel. “I am told everyday that I am anti-American if I am not pro-Israel. I find that to be problematic and I am not alone. I just happen to be willing to speak up on it and open myself to attacks,” she tweeted.
There have been reports of a rise in anti-Semitic hate crimes in Europe, and the worst terror attack against Jews in American history occurred in October at the Tree of Life synagogue. An initial resolution by the Democrats to condemn Omar’s remarks singled out anti-Semitism for condemnation, but the Democrats eventually passed a watered-down resolution rejecting all hate under pressure from the progressive caucus, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
While Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) called Omar’s comments a “vile anti-Semitic slur,” neither Engel nor any other Democrats have endorsed calls from Republicans to take Omar off her assignment on the influential Foreign Affairs Committee, which was given to her by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Pelosi received widespread criticism for failing to censure Omar.
AIPAC gathers
Pompeo became Secretary of State last year, taking over the job from Rex Tillerson. Pompeo has continued an aggressive push by President Trump to strengthen America’s relationship with Israel.
Pompeo has been on a tour of Middle Eastern countries to bolster opposition to Iran. Pompeo told CBN Thursday that God might have sent Donald Trump to save Israel from Iran, comparing Trump to Esther, the wife of the Persian King Xerxes. According to the Bible, Esther dissuaded Xerxes from exterminating the Jewish people. Pompeo’s Thursday interview fell on Purim, the Jewish holiday which commemorates Esther’s story.
On Thursday, Trump announced that it was time to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights territory, which Israel captured in its 1967 war, a dramatic departure from past policy.
The U.S.-Israel relationship has strengthened significantly under President Trump, who moved America’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018. Trump’s friendliness to Israel is in line with the conventional support of the Jewish state shown by the centrist wing of the Democratic party, led by Pelosi. The Democrats have been criticized for caving to the far-left of their party in failing to condemn Omar.
Pompeo met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Thursday. Netanyahu will come to the United States for AIPAC’s annual conference and to meet with Trump for the second time since he took office. But apparently agreeing with Omar’s anti-Israel position, several 2020 Democrats rejected invitations to attend the AIPAC conference this year.
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