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House Vote on Anti-Semitism Back on Amid Debate Over Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Critique of Israel

HeadlineMar 07, 2019

And House Democratic leaders say they’ll proceed with a vote today on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism. The resolution is seen as a direct rebuke of recent comments by Minnesota Congressmember Ilhan Omar questioning the U.S.’s relationship with Israel—even though the draft resolution does not explicitly name the freshman congressmember. The resolution was announced after comments by Omar at an event last week, in which she called out the “political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country”—referring to Israel. Omar has repeatedly condemned anti-Semitism.

Democratic leaders said Wednesday the vote would be indefinitely delayed after a revolt from progressive Democrats. But on Thursday morning, they reversed course again and said they would bring the resolution to a vote.

In a statement to The Hill, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders wrote, “We must not … equate anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of the right-wing, Netanyahu government in Israel. Rather, we must develop an even-handed Middle East policy which brings Israelis and Palestinians together for a lasting peace.”

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