House GOP members to push for censure of ‘the Squad’ over Israel comments
House Republicans are poised Monday to introduce a resolution censuring members of the progressive “Squad” over Rep. Ilhan Omar’s anti-Israel and anti-US remarks — issuing a rebuke that Speaker Nancy Pelosi held back rather than spark a possible civil war among the Democrats.
The measure — led by Reps. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), Claudia Tenney (R-NY) and Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Banks (R-Ind.) — comes less than a week after Omar (D-Minn.) tweeted, “we have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.”
The blowback was swift even within Omar’s own party, with 12 Jewish Democrats condemning her remarks, and Pelosi (D-Calif.) issuing a statement in conjunction with other leaders slapping down the lightning-rod comments.
But after Omar ultimately walked back her remarks — and fellow Squad member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) accused Pelosi of stifling the free speech of Muslim lawmakers — the speaker took no further action rather than risk a further fracturing between the party’s far-left and more moderate wings.
However, while Democratic leadership welcomed Omar’s reversal, Republicans have called for formal disciplinary action.
The resolution, which would formally condemn Omar and Tlaib — plus two more Squad members, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) — on the House floor, argues the progressive lawmakers’ rhetoric “inaccurately depict the democracy of Israel as an oppressive, violent, abusive nation” and that “false claims, further perpetuated over social media, have resulted in increased violence and anti-Semitic hate crimes throughout the United States.”
In addition to directly taking aim at Omar’s comments, the resolution cites all four congresswomen as referring to Israel as an “apartheid state,” points to Tlaib’s accusation that Israel is guilty of an “ethnic cleansing” against Palestinians, Ocasio-Cortez’s characterization of the Israeli military as “inhumane,” and Pressley’s stance that the nation has conducted ‘‘egregious human rights violations.’’
While Omar’s most recent inflammatory tweet was met with bipartisan pushback from pro-Israel lawmakers, the GOP measure is unlikely to pass the Democrat-controlled lower chamber.
During a Sunday appearance on CNN, Pelosi asserted that a joint leadership statement welcoming Omar’s clarification was not a rebuke, as Democrats looked to project a united front.
Pelosi said she has no intention of taking disciplinary action against Omar despite Republican calls for Omar to be removed from her position on the powerful House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The calls for her to be removed from the panel have intensified, with GOP lawmakers noting the House’s passage of a Democrat-led resolution to oust controversial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) over a series of inflammatory remarks on social media.
Omar’s critics have noted it is not the first time that her remarks on Israel have sparked controversy, with the House in 2019 passing a resolution broadly condemning anti-Semitism and other forms of hate speech after the Minnesota Democrat accused pro-Israel lawmakers of dual loyalty and of being “all about the Benjamins,” a comment seen by many as an anti-Semitic trope.
“We cannot turn a blind eye to Members of Congress openly defending terrorist attacks by Hamas against our close ally Israel nor their dangerous rhetoric which has contributed to anti-Semitic attacks across the country,” Waltz said in a statement.
“I’ve seen firsthand gross atrocities against women and ethnic minorities at the hands of the Taliban,” the Florida Republican continued. “I’ve personally been fired upon by terrorists hiding behind women and children and seen the Taliban place suicide vests on teenagers.
“For members of the U.S. Congress to make equivalencies to Israel and the American military, which puts its own soldiers at risk to avoid civilian casualties, is ignorant of the facts, shameful, and should be condemned in the strongest terms.”
