The Democratic Party will have to make tough decisions on its stance toward Israel amid the fallout from what many have called anti-Semitic tweets by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Israel advocate Elliott Mendes told Hill.TV on Tuesday.
“This is, unfortunately, a trend that we’re seeing along the fringe of the Democratic Party that’s making its way in more and more,” Mendes, the chief operating officer of the Israel Project, told hosts Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton on “Rising.”
“We see a rise in hatred all around today, a rise in anti-Semitism, the tragedy of Pittsburgh,” he continued, referencing October’s mass shooting at the Pittsburgh-area Tree of Life synagogue.
“On the right, we see what hate looks like, it’s very easy to point to it and say this is hate,” Mendes continued. “On the left, it’s a little more insidious, it’s a little more nefarious because it works its way in through intellectual things like intersectionality, and a deliberate attempt to co-opt other minority groups’ movements for pro-Palestinian causes and introduce language like Omar has used, and as we see more of that, it’s going to be concerning.”
“The Democratic Party is going to have to make some tough decisions about how they deal with these things,” he said.
Omar apologized on Monday for suggesting in tweets that U.S. lawmakers were motivated by money to defend Israel.
The congresswoman received bipartisan backlash on Monday after she retweeted journalist Glenn Greenwald responding to a story about House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) promising “action” against her and fellow freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) over their views criticizing Israel.
“It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” she tweeted, referring to money.
Omar also tweeted that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) was paying American politicians to support Israel.
AIPAC doesn’t directly donate to political candidates but does sponsor regular congressional delegations to Israel.
— Julia Manchester
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