Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), chair of the “Progressive Caucus” in the House, called Israel a “racist state” on Saturday in Chicago — but then said that she supported a “two-state solution” for Israel and the Palestinians.
Jayapal was speaking at the Netroots Nation conference, a gathering of left-wing online activists. She was heckled by anti-Israel demonstrators who waved Palestinian flags. She chose to address them directly:
Is this where the Democratic Party is headed when it comes to Israel?
— Lidar Gravé-Lazi (@LidarGL) July 16, 2023
pic.twitter.com/JJ3WBmW94E
“I want you to know that we have been fighting to be clear that Israel is a racist state, that the Palestinian people deserve delf-determination and autonomy, that the dream of a two-state solution is slipping away from us,” she said.
She did not explain why a “racist” state, if Israel were such a state, would deserve to exist at all.
Jayapal has a history of extremist anti-Israel rhetoric. In 2018, she accused Israel of “war crimes” after visiting Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, prompting then-U.S. Ambassador David Friedman to walk out of a meeting with her. In 2021, she tried to justify rocket attacks by the Palestinian terror group Hamas against Israelis civilians by suggesting that Israel had “prompted” such attacks with its own policies.
Friedman responded via Twitter to Jayapal’s latest comments:
I’ve been fighting to make it clear that Jayapal is a racist congresswoman. https://t.co/cNZLTBgZeF
— David M Friedman (@DavidM_Friedman) July 16, 2023
Jayapal’s remarks came ahead of a week in which Israel’s ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, is set to address Congress on Wednesday. Herzog is a former left-wing politician who was elevated to head of state in 2021.
One of Jayapal’s “progressive” colleagues, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), is already boycotting the speech. President Joe Biden has invited Herzog to the White House but has continued to snub Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despite the fact that Netanyahu was elected late last year, and Biden’s claims to “defend democracy.”
Update: The leadership of the Democratic Party in the House issued a clarifying statement on Sunday:
House Democratic leadership in statement: "Israel is not a racist state…Government officials come and go. The special relationship between the United States and Israel will endure. We are determined to make sure support for Israel in the Congress remains strongly bipartisan.” pic.twitter.com/2glpWSEOHZ
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) July 17, 2023
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
