Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said Saturday that U.S. policy toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘doesn’t add up’ as Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists continues.
Omar has been critical of Israel’s government since Hamas launched its surprise attack against the Jewish State on Oct. 7.
‘U.S. policy is essentially that Netanyahu has no achievable goals in Gaza and a ground invasion risks regional war, including potential US troops. And also we should give him $14 billion in weapons with no restrictions, and say there are no red lines as he bombs refugee camps,’ Omar wrote Saturday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
‘See how this doesn’t add up?’ she added.
More than 10,000 people have been killed in Gaza and Israel since Hamas launched its largest attack against Israel in decades on Oct. 7, leading to retaliatory action from Israeli forces. Thousands more have been wounded, and many others have been taken hostage by Hamas and raped, tortured and murdered.
Omar is among more than a dozen progressive Democrats in the House to have co-sponsored a resolution last month calling for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. She was also one of the more than 20 House members who voted against a separate resolution calling on administrators at U.S. universities to condemn antisemitism on their campuses and to ensure that Jewish faculty and students can exercise free speech without intimidation.
Last week, the White House called for a ‘humanitarian pause’ in the war between Israel and Hamas to allow aid into Gaza, but it has argued against a cease-fire. The Biden administration has strongly supported Israel in its war against Hamas, including backing its right to defend itself and pledging billions in aid.
Netanyahu told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a meeting on Friday that Israel ‘refuses a temporary cease-fire that does not include the release of our hostages. Israel will not enable the entry of fuel to Gaza and opposes sending money to the Strip,’ The Times of Israel reported.
Omar’s comments come after fellow progressive Rep. Rashida, D-Mich., criticized Biden in a video posted to X on Friday, in which she accused the president of ‘support[ing] the genocide of the Palestinian people’ for his administration’s support for Israel. A proposal to censure Tlaib over several statements critical of Israel failed to pass last week.