{"id":4407,"date":"2023-07-18T14:21:58","date_gmt":"2023-07-18T19:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/?p=4407"},"modified":"2023-07-18T14:21:58","modified_gmt":"2023-07-18T19:21:58","slug":"gone-off-a-cliff-dems-grapple-with-anti-semitism-ahead-of-israeli-presidents-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/?p=4407","title":{"rendered":"Gone Off a Cliff\u2019: Dems Grapple with Anti-Semitism Ahead of Israeli President\u2019s Visit"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20370%20247'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-81.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"zeen-lazy-load-base zeen-lazy-load wp-image-4408\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"736\" height=\"514\" src=\"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-81.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4408\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-81.png 736w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-81-300x210.png 300w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-81-293x205.png 293w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-81-390x272.png 390w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 736px) 100vw, 736px\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Democratic leaders are rushing to combat accusations of anti-Semitism after a slew of anti-Israel comments from members of the party raised the stakes on a planned Democratic boycott of Israeli president Isaac Herzog\u2019s address to Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At least four members of the Democratic Party\u2019s progressive &#8220;Squad&#8221; announced they would boycott Herzog\u2019s address to Congress this Wednesday. The group includes Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.), Cori Bush (D., Mo.), and Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.). Omar and fellow progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.) drew widespread scrutiny over the weekend for criticizing Israel, which Jayapal slammed as a &#8220;racist state.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Herzog\u2019s visit comes days after President Joe Biden denounced Israel\u2019s governing coalition as &#8220;extremist.&#8221; Until Monday, when Biden spoke to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone and made plans to meet with him in person, the two had not talked in months, and Biden&#8217;s invitation to Herzog, who has been a critic of Israeli judicial reforms backed by Netanyahu, was viewed as a rebuke. It was also a move that some Jewish community leaders say has emboldened Israel-bashing within the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The Biden administration has created an atmosphere that is literally anti-Israel, that doesn\u2019t respect democracy,&#8221; former Democratic New York assemblyman Dov Hikind told the&nbsp;<em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em>. &#8220;When the prime minister is not invited to the White House, which is a tradition going back decades and decades and decades, what message does that send? That gave a green light to these [anti-Israel] radicals.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking at the left-wing Netroots Nation conference Saturday, Omar&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RNCResearch\/status\/1680323648433840131?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">called<\/a>&nbsp;for voters to elect to Congress &#8220;Palestinian people who have now experienced occupation and displacement for 75 years.&#8221; At the same event, Jayapal, the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said she was &#8220;fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was also&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/rfk-jr-accused-making-antisemitic-racist-claims-covid\/story?id=101323851\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">accused<\/a>&nbsp;of anti-Semitism over the weekend after he said there was &#8220;an argument that [COVID-19] is ethnically targeted&#8221; to have a greater impact on white and black people and a lower impact on Chinese and Jewish people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The American Jewish Committee said Kennedy\u2019s claim &#8220;reflects some of the most abhorrent antisemitic conspiracy theories throughout history and contributes to today\u2019s dangerous rise of antisemitism.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After facing backlash from Jewish community leaders\u2014who noted that her remarks fall under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance\u2019s definition of anti-Semitism\u2014Jayapal tried to dial back her comments slightly. In a statement, she said she was referring to the &#8220;outright racist policies&#8221; of the Israeli government and does not believe that &#8220;the idea of Israel as a nation is racist.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But in her apology, Jayapal reiterated her opposition to conservative Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, writing: &#8220;I do, however, believe that Netanyahu\u2019s extreme right-wing government has engaged in discriminatory and outright racist policies and that there are extreme racists driving that policy within the leadership of the current government.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The apology did not go nearly far enough for mainstream Jewish Democrats, who are circulating a letter calling for the expulsion of &#8220;anti-Zionist voices&#8221; from the party, according to a copy of the missive&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2023\/07\/16\/jayapals-israel-comments-spark-internal-backlash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">obtained<\/a>&nbsp;Sunday evening by&nbsp;<em>Axios<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Israel is the legitimate homeland of the Jewish people and efforts to delegitimize and demonize it are not only dangerous and antisemitic, but they also undermine America\u2019s national security,&#8221; the signatories wrote. The letter stopped short of calling Jayapal\u2019s statements anti-Semitic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Biden has been increasingly vocal with his criticism of Israel as well. In a July 9 interview with CNN, he labeled Netanyahu\u2019s government &#8220;one of the most extremist&#8221; of all time, and called on the Israeli leader to &#8220;move toward moderation.&#8221; The White House also appeared to support anti-Netanyahu protests in Israel last week, saying it &#8220;urge[s] authorities in Israel to protect and respect the right of peaceful assembly&#8221;\u2014a comment that the administration has not made about protests in other countries, such as France, and which carries the implication that Netanyahu\u2019s government is undemocratic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Biden reiterated these concerns in his Monday call to Netanyahu, during which he also &#8220;expressed concern&#8221; about Israeli settlements, according to the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Republicans have seized on Democrats\u2019 internecine conflict in advance of Herzog\u2019s trip, set to mark 75 years of Israeli independence. Republican presidential hopefuls Mike Pence and Nikki Haley both condemned the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.haaretz.com\/us-news\/2023-07-14\/ty-article\/.premium\/gop-slams-antisemitic-democrats-boycotting-israeli-presidents-congress-speech\/00000189-5507-d481-afbd-5f37ed250000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">boycott<\/a>. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.), who has repeatedly clashed with anti-Israel Democrats,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/minutes\/congress\/07-14-2023\/mccarthy-knocks-dems-over-israel\/\">told<\/a>&nbsp;reporters on Friday that &#8220;anti-Semitism shouldn\u2019t be anywhere, and especially shouldn\u2019t be inside Congress.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hikind, a longtime Democratic politician in New York, said the increasing animosity against Israel from Biden and top Democratic leaders has crossed the line\u2014and pushed him to register as a Republican for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;That\u2019s not because things are perfect in the Republican Party, they\u2019re not,&#8221; said Hikind. &#8220;But the Democratic Party, forget it, they\u2019ve gone off a cliff.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Update July 18, 11:00 a.m.:<\/strong>\u00a0This post has been updated to correct Dov Hikind\u2019s position. He was a New York state assemblyman, not a New York City councilman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Original Article: <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/gone-off-a-cliff-dems-grapple-with-anti-semitism-ahead-of-israeli-presidents-visit\/\">https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/gone-off-a-cliff-dems-grapple-with-anti-semitism-ahead-of-israeli-presidents-visit\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/handsoffmyrewards.com\/?utm_source=freebeacon&amp;utm_medium=advertising&amp;utm_campaign=2023\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/handsoffmyrewards.com\/?utm_source=freebeacon&amp;utm_medium=advertising&amp;utm_campaign=2023\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democratic leaders are rushing to combat accusations of anti-Semitism after a slew of anti-Israel comments from members of the party raised the stakes on a planned Democratic boycott of Israeli president Isaac Herzog\u2019s address to Congress. At least four members of the Democratic Party\u2019s progressive &#8220;Squad&#8221; announced they would boycott Herzog\u2019s address to Congress this Wednesday. The group includes Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.), Cori Bush (D., Mo.), and Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.). Omar and fellow [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-president-biden"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4407"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4409,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4407\/revisions\/4409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}