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As we move into the season in Washington,
D.C. where everything is influenced
by the upcoming election, it is fair
to say that the bipartisan consensus in support
of Israel is under pressure from the increasingly
militant extreme left of the Democratic
Party. It is also important to state the obvious
here: The majority of Democrats in Congress
continue to support Israel, and the large (72-
member) congressional delegation to Israel in
August included 41 Democrats. ZOA remains
a non-partisan organization, and many of our
closest friends are Democratic lawmakers. Even
these friends, however, are under pressure from
far left “woke” constituencies, and there is a
constant need to muster mainstream support
for these pro-Israel members of Congress.
A Case Study: U.S.
Reps. Tlaib and Omar
Nothing better illustrates the new environment
on Capitol Hill than the case of
two freshman Muslim members of Congress,
Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar
(D-MN), both of whom have made statements
that are anti-Israel and anti-Semitic. It is
shameful that the House of Representatives has
still not condemned the unacceptable anti-Semitism
of its own members.
In August 2019, the two Congresswomen
decided to skip the congressional trips to Israel
organized by the House leadership. Instead,
they planned a fact-finding trip to “Palestine”
sponsored by Miftah, a viciously anti-Semitic
group started by Hanan Ashrawi, a longtime
official of the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO). The Miftah website has supported
the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement,
idolized terrorists who killed Jews, and most
notoriously, in 2013, even published a piece
falsely claiming that Jews used Christian blood
in making matzo for Passover.
Dan Pollak
Director, Government
Relations
Joel Kassiday
Deputy Director,
Government Relations
GOVERNMEN
Nothing better
illustrates the new
environment on
Capitol Hill than
the case of two
freshman Muslim
members of
Congress, Rashida
Tlaib (D-MI)
and Ilhan Omar
(D-MN), both of
whom have made
statements that
are anti-Israel
and anti-Semitic.