Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), one of Congress’s most ardent supporters of Israel, plans to introduce a resolution explicitly condemning antisemitism next week, according to a report.
Jewish Insider, citing “a source familiar with the plan,” reported that the Texas Republican is helping to a draft a measure which is solely a “condemnation of anti-Semitism.”
“There’s nothing extraneous. The entire thing clocks in at just over 100 words,” the source told Jewish Insider. It is unclear whether the text will mention Rep. Ilan Omar (D-MN), whose latest anti-Jewish remarks prompted the House of Representatives to pass an anti-hate resolution Thursday. Last week, Omar received bipartisan blowback for suggesting pro-Israel organizations pressure lawmakers into pledging allegiance to a foreign country.
The resolution, which passed 407-23, was publically panned by several Republicans, including House Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) joined Reps. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), because it failed to mention Omar by name. The expansion of its scope — from antisemitism alone to “all hate” — was a bid to end dissension among Democrats over freshman congresswoman Omar’s latest remarks on Israel.
“If [Omar] was a Republican, that member’s name would be in this resolution and this resolution would be all about condemning antisemitism and it would be done so forcefully,” Zeldin said in a fiery House floor speech. “Even if you gave [Omar] every benefit of the doubt, that she had no idea what she was doing, why now wouldn’t she be apologizing? Why would she be more emboldened to refuse an apology altogether? I apparently am giving Rep. Omar more credit than the speaker is because I don’t believe she is naive.”
In a press conference Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) refused to call on Omar to apologize, claiming the Minnesota Democrat was unaware her that her antisemitic remark would be interpreted as such.
“I do not believe she understood the full weight of her words. These words have a history and a cultural impact,” the House Speaker told reporters.
Omar apologized last year for a 2012 tweet in which she said Israel had “hypnotized” America. And last month, she apologized for suggesting that Republicans support Israel because they are paid to do so by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Of note, the pro-Israel group does not make donations to political candidates.
Pelosi and House Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-NY) criticized Omar for pushing the anti-Jewish trope. Engel called the freshman’s remarks about divided loyalties a “vile antisemitic slur” and demanded that she apologize immediately.
Ahead of touring of tornado-stricken parts of Alabama and Georgia, President Donald Trump criticized Democrats for failing to condemn Omar, saying, “They’ve become an anti-Israel party, they have become an anti-Jewish party.”
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