Sometimes, it’s hard to tell the rhetoric of a “Squad” member apart from that of a freshman sociology student at U.C. Berkeley.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) demonstrated exactly why yesterday when she had a meltdown — complete with yelling and a whole bunch of lies — over the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, traveling to the United States to meet with President Joe Biden and delivering a speech to Congress. She wrote, “There is no way in hell I am attending [Herzog’s] joint session address.”
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She continued in a Trump-style caps-lock tweet that read, “WE SHOULD NOT BE INVITING THE PRESIDENT OF ISRAEL—A GOVERNMENT WHO UNDER ITS CURRENT PRIME MINISTER BARRED THE FIRST TWO MUSLIM WOMEN ELECTED TO CONGRESS FROM VISITING THE COUNTRY—TO GIVE A JOINT ADDRESS TO CONGRESS.”
Omar followed this up with some pathetic excuses for why she is not attending, including that Herzog is coming “on behalf of the most right-wing government in Israel’s history,” that the government is trying to ram through a “judicial coup,” and “above all” that “this is the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank in history.”
Let’s start with the most important distortion, which is the idea Herzog is some sort of controversial figure that respectable people ought not to be associated with. To put it simply: This couldn’t be further from the truth. In Israel, the president is not a political figure but rather primarily a ceremonial one who the entire country can get behind.
Additionally, Herzog is a member of the left-wing Labor Party, which is not even part of the current coalition, and has led the effort to make peace when opportunities arise. He also has been facilitating efforts to find compromise on judicial reform, which most Israelis recognize is important to find the most desirable balance of powers.
As such, he represents Israel as a nation — not its raucous political situation and especially not its extremists.
That Omar discards this fact, instead opting to freak out about his trip, demonstrates that her true issue is not with any specific action or statement of those in the government. Rather, it is with Israel itself.
This should not be surprising, as she wrote in 2012 that “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” She has also equated the U.S. and Israel, on one hand, with the terrorist groups Hamas and the Taliban, on the other.
Moreover, she conveniently leaves out the fact that the vast majority of those killed in “the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank in history” — which itself is not true — were armed terrorists. In fact, during Israel’s most recent counterterrorism operation in Jenin, where twelve Palestinians were killed, every single one was a militant. Rep. Omar seemingly forgets to mention that last point, though.
Another sign this has nothing to do with policy is that she was happy to meet with the President of Pakistan just last year, despite the country’s far worse human rights and civil liberties record than Israel — not to mention the country’s well-known hospitality to terrorists. Moreover, I have no doubt Omar would be eager to attend a speech in Congress given by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas despite the fact 8% of his government’s annual budget — more than $300 million annually — goes to a “pay for slay” pension system for those who commit terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians.
Is it legitimate for Omar not to be happy with the fact Israel did not allow her in the country? Yes. It was not the right decision on Israel’s part to deny her entry even though the purpose of the trip was to spread anti-Israel sentiment and was led by a group that promotes the classic blood libel that “the Jews used the blood of Christians in the Jewish Passover” and praises suicide bombers.
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But that is not what her refusal to attend Herzog’s speech is really about. It is actually about a deep disdain for America’s friends and an embrace of our enemies. It is not surprising, but I guess that’s what makes it just that much more unfortunate.
Jack Elbaum is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.