Jeffries Pushes Back on Bush: Israel Isn’t Ethnic Cleansing, They’re Defending Against It

On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) pushed back against Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) accusing Israel of “ethnic cleansing” by saying, “Israel is not conducting an ethnic cleansing campaign. Israel is not engaged in genocide. Israel was brutally attacked in the most horrific way on October 7. It has resulted in the largest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust.” And Israel is responding.

Jeffries said that while he’s not familiar with the details of today’s strike, “I support Israel’s effort to defend itself. It has not just the right to defend itself, but the responsibility toward its citizens and its sovereignty in the face of a brutal, horrific attack that took place on October 7. And, for the good of Israel, for the good of the region, for the good of America, the free world, and for the good of the Palestinian people in Gaza, we need to make sure that Hamas is defeated.” And “I know that Israel is taking every effort to continue to conduct this necessary war following the international rules of warfare, and I would expect that it will continue to do that.”

Later, host Wolf Blitzer asked, “Democratic Congresswoman Cori Bush is facing bipartisan criticism…after she actually accused Israel of engaging in what she called an ‘ethnic cleansing campaign.’ How do you respond to your Democratic colleague?”

Jeffries answered, “Israel is not conducting an ethnic cleansing campaign. Israel is not engaged in genocide. Israel was brutally attacked in the most horrific way on October 7. It has resulted in the largest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust. And Israel is in a position where it is responding and going after Hamas. That is a necessary and urgent project for it to complete. At the same time, we are, of course, going to make sure that we are providing the humanitarian assistance necessary to Palestinian civilians who may be in harm’s way through no fault of their own.”

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