Dan Shapiro, who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel under President Obama, condemned Representative Ilhan Omar’s (D., Minn.) apparent endorsement of anti-Semitic tropes in a series of Monday morning tweets.
Omar, who became the first Somali-American elected to congress in November, attributed Republican support of Israel to the nefarious influence of wealthy pro-Israel donors and organizations such as the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/1094747501578633216
https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/1094761790595088384
Shapiro, who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel from 2011 to 2017, joined the bipartisan chorus of condemnation leveled at Omar in the hours following her tweet.
1. @IlhanMN's outrageous comments equating politicians' support for Israel with being bought off by American Jewish money are a vile anti-Semitic trope. They need to be condemned by all in our party.
— Dan Shapiro (@DanielBShapiro) February 11, 2019
Citing the multiple occasions in which Omar has appeared to endorse anti-semitic positions and groups like the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, Shapiro argued the freshman lawmaker has isolated herself and, as a result, will be unable to meaningfully contribute to the ongoing middle east policy discussion in Washington.
8. Had she come to DC, shown sympathy and empathy for Israelis and Palestinians, learned to assign responsibility in appropriate measure to both sides, considered the totality of US interests in the region, maybe taken a trip to learn, she could have had real influence.
— Dan Shapiro (@DanielBShapiro) February 11, 2019
Omar, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has faced bipartisan condemnation on multiple occasions since taking office for disseminating anti-semitic conspiracies online. Shapiro was joined in condemning Omar by Chelsea Clinton, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, and Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas).
Co-signed as an American. We should expect all elected officials, regardless of party, and all public figures to not traffic in anti-Semitism.
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) February 11, 2019
Why is a Member of Congress launching anti-Semitic slurs on Twitter? Caricaturing support for Israel as purchased by Jewish $$—“about the Benjamins”—is an old slander. Do other Dems agree? Will media ask them? As more Dems support BDS, anti-Semitism becoming far too common. https://t.co/1mmI71tLCg
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 11, 2019
Omar, amid the wave of backlash on Twitter Sunday, retweeted and then immediately deleted, a critical tweet directed at her by historian Joshua Zeitz.
2. The Congresswoman has retweeted this tweet. pic.twitter.com/3nGtMVIqYa
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) February 11, 2019