Rep. Omar apologizes for statements said to be anti-Semitic
Democrats’ outrage aimed at freshman
WASHINGTON — Rep. Ilhan Omar, who has been battling charges of anti-Semitism for weeks, apologized on Monday for insinuating that American support for Israel is fueled by money from a pro-Israel lobbying group — a comment that drew swift and unqualified condemnation from fellow Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The mea culpa by Ms. Omar, a freshman lawmaker from Minnesota and one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, came after a day of bipartisan outrage over her tweet Sunday night asserting that support for Israel was “all about the Benjamins, baby,” a reference to hundred-dollar bills.
“Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies
and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes,” Ms. Omar said in a statement released on Twitter, about an hour Ms. Pelosi and the entire Democratic leadership publicly chastised her for engaging in “deeply offensive” anti-Semitic tropes.
“My intention is never to offend my constituents or Jewish Americans as a whole,” Ms. Omar wrote, adding, “We have to always be willing to step back and think through criticism, just as I expect people to hear me when others attack me about my identity.
“This is why I unequivocally apologize.”
The verbal altercation between Ms. Pelosi and Ms. Omar was only the latest example of the speaker stepping in to try to keep her diverse and unruly caucus in line. She finagled her own election to the speakership, threw subtle cold water on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s ambitious Green New Deal and tamped down talk of impeaching President Donald Trump. In the coming days she may again have to step in to pass an immigration and border security deal likely to anger the most liberal wing of the House.
But even as Democrats condemned Ms. Omar, her criticism of Israel exposes tension in the party, with younger liberals willing to accuse the Jewish state of human rights abuses while older stalwarts stand firmly behind it.