Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Omar Lashes Out At Pelosi, Netanyahu For Their AIPAC Jabs At Her

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Rep. Ilhan Omar hit back at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after they called out the first-year congresswoman at the AIPAC policy conference for her attacks on the lobby and support for the Israel boycott movement.

Pelosi, D-Calif., told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual confab on Tuesday that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel was a form of bigotry.

Americans must “be vigilant against bigoted or dangerous ideologies masquerading as policy, and that includes BDS,” she said to applause.

Omar, D-Minn., and a fellow freshman to whom she is close, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., back BDS.

Asked by reporters about Pelosi’s statement, Omar was quoted by The Hill as saying, “A condemnation for people that want to exercise their First Amendment rights is beneath any leader, and I hope that we find a better use of language when we are trying to speak as members of Congress that are sworn to protect the Constitution.”

Pelosi also noted to AIPAC that the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly condemned the anti-Semitic dual loyalty canard — one Omar had been accused of invoking when she said she felt pressure to pledge “allegiance” to Israel.

Omar’s remarks on Netanyahu came on Twitter. On Tuesday, the prime minister mocked Omar in his address to AIPAC for suggesting lawmakers backed Israel only because it brought in campaign money.

“The reason the people of America support Israel is not because they want our money, it’s because they share our values,” Netanyahu said.

Omar’s response: “This from a man facing indictments for bribery and other crimes in three separate public corruption affairs.”

The post Ilhan Omar lashes out at Pelosi, Netanyahu for their AIPAC jabs at her appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.