Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) said on Monday at the Christians United for Israel summit in Washington, DC, that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) should be removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee for her antisemitic remarks about Israel and the Jewish people.
McCaul, who is ranking member on the committee, made the remarks in an interview with Michelle Makori, anchor and editor-in-chief at the Israeli news outlet i24NEWS.
“Now the U.S. and Israel enjoy a very special relationship,” Makori said. “It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. Israel is the U.S.’s only ally in the Middle East that shares the U.S.’s values.”
“But that relationship, congressman, is coming under increased scrutiny and open hostility from certain members of Congress, as we heard from Vice President Mike Pence earlier today that there is antisemitism in the halls of Congress,” Makori said. “One particular Democratic member of Congress has been very hostile against Israel; has made comments that have been deemed as antisemitic, to put it mildly; and has made statements that many see as being openly in support of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.”
“Now you’re the ranking member on the Foreign Affairs Committee,” Makori said. “What is being done to address it and should that member still be on that committee?”
“I think we can take that applause as a no; she should not still be on that committee,” Makori said as the crowd rose to its feet.
“Ultimately that’s a decision for Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Engel, but as for me … I think Omar has to go,” McCaul said.
McCaul said that he believes this because of what happened during World War II when the Nazis killed millions of Jews.
“There’s nothing more evil,” than what Hilter did, McCaul said.
“We thought [antisemitism was] defeated after World War II, and now we’re seeing a rise of this antisemitism in Europe,” McCall said.
And McCaul said he is “proud” of the committee’s historic strong bipartisan support for Israel.
“And now for the first time we have a member on this committee who does not and is making antisemitic comments,” McCall said, adding that others have come to Omar’s defense, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).
“And then we have Tlaib and AOC joining in on the chorus against the Jewish people,” McCaul said. “This cannot stand in the United States of America.”
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