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Leading House Democrats distanced themselves Monday from top progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s characterization of Israel as a “racist state” over the weekend as official Washington prepares for a visit by the Jewish state’s president, Isaac Herzog.
Jayapal (D-Wash.), who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, made the controversial retort while seeking to assuage protesters at the progressive Netroots Nation conference on Saturday. She later walked the comment back, but party leaders quickly tried to make clear she didn’t speak for them.
“Israel is not a racist state,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said in a joint statement.
“As a Jewish and Democratic nation, Israel was founded 75 years ago on the principle of complete equality of social and political rights for all of its citizens irrespective of religion, race or sex, as codified in its Declaration of Independence.”
“As House Democratic leaders, we strongly support Israel’s right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people. We are also firmly committed to a robust two-state solution where Israel and the Palestinian people can live side by side in peace and prosperity,” the trio continued. “Certainly, there are individual members of the current Israeli governing coalition with whom we strongly disagree.”
The statement was particularly notable from Jeffries, whose uncle Leonard Jeffries — a former college professor and department chair of black studies at the City University of New York — came under fire in the 1990s for antisemitic statements. Jeffries himself was criticized earlier this year after a college op-ed he wrote defending both his uncle and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan resurfaced by CNN.
Jayapal’s remarks at the Chicago conference were triggered by pro-Palestinian demonstrators who interrupted the event.
“As somebody who’s been in the streets and participated in a lot of demonstrations, I want you to know that we have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state,” she told them at the time.
“I want you to know that while you may have arguments with whether or not some of us on stage are fighting hard enough, I do want you to know there is an organized opposition on the other side and it isn’t the people who are on this stage.”
Democrat Rep. Pramila Jayapal attempts to appease so-called "Free Palestine" protesters after they hijacked a leftist conference: "We have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state!" pic.twitter.com/9p2aX6uh4F
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 15, 2023By Sunday evening, Jayapal had issued a lengthy statement attempting to clarify her remarks, saying that her accusations of racism were directed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
“I do not believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist,” she said. “I do, however, believe that
Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing government has engaged in discriminatory and outright racist policies.”
Other Democrats — many, but not all, of them Jewish — issued similar rebukes against Jayapal.
Israel is the only true democracy in the Middle East and is not a racist state. It faces constant attacks and the threat of terrorism, and is a key U.S. ally.
Israel has every right to exist as a Jewish homeland. Instead of denigrating an entire state and its people, we should…
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) July 17, 2023“Israel is the only true democracy in the Middle East and is not a racist state. It faces constant attacks and the threat of terrorism, and is a key U.S. ally. Israel has every right to exist as a Jewish homeland,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday night.
“I’m glad Rep. Jayapal issued a statement saying she does not believe Israel is a racist state. Let me also say I’m glad Israeli President Herzog is speaking to Congress and I would absolutely be attending if I were in the House. I’m proud of my pro-Israel record in Congress,” former Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY) tweeted.
South Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) issued a lengthy rebuttal to Jayapal, writing: “Let me set the record straight about Israel as a multiracial democracy based on nearly a decade to traveling to the region. Jewish and Arab citizens enjoy equal protection under the laws, including an equal right to vote in Israeli elections. There is Arab representation in both the Knesset and the Israeli Supreme Court.
I’m glad Rep. Jayapal issued a statement saying she does not believe Israel is a racist state. Let me also say I’m glad Israeli President Herzog is speaking to Congress and I would absolutely be attending if I were in the House. I’m proud of my pro-Israel record in Congress.
— Mondaire Jones (@MondaireJones) July 16, 2023“There is disproportionate Arab representation in the Israeli health care system, which is central to Israeli life. Arab matriculation in Israeli higher education has been rising at an astonishing pace—an unmistakable sign of racial progress,” Torres went on. “Every multiracial country, including our own, has complicated race relations, but the Israeli story, much like the American story, is one of progress rather than perfection.
“Show me a country whose race relations are beyond reproach, and I will show you utopia, which literally means ‘no place,'” Torres concluded.
A handful of Democrats also circulated a draft statement deeming Jayapal’s remarks “unacceptable.”
Republicans have also voiced outrage at Jayapal over her remarks. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called for punitive measures against her and highlighted previous episodes of congressional Democrats making disparaging comments about Israel.
“I think this is a role where the leader, Hakeem, [must] prove that, no, they’re not antisemitic, and they cannot allow their members to continue to say what they have said,” McCarthy argued. “ I mean, think about what … she called Israel [racist] on a week when we have the President of Israel, Mr. Herzog, coming to give a joint session on the 75th anniversary of the creation of Israel.”
McCarthy further contended that Democratic leaders “should take action against their own” for such inflammatory rhetoric.
Herzog is scheduled to address a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday, an event Jayapal previously indicated she would skip.
Some House Democrats, including “Squad” members Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), have also vowed to boycott Herzog’s speech.
President Biden has stressed he remains a supporter of the Jewish state, and Jeffries led a delegation of Democrats on a trip to Israel back in April.
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