Rep. Omar Compares Israel’s Nation-State Law to Iran

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) compared Israel’s nation-state law to Iran in a Jan. 30 interview on women’s rights activist Zainab Salbi’s “Through Her Eyes” show on Yahoo! News.

Salbi asked Omar about how the United States’ should handle the Israel-Palestinian conflict; Omar replied that the United States should have a more even-handed approach.

“We have had a policy that makes one superior to the other, and we mask it with a conversation that’s about justice and a two-state solution when you have policies that clearly prioritize one over the other,” Omar said.

When Salbi asked for examples of such policies, Omar just cited the overall United States-Israel relationship and then pointed to Israel’s nation-state law.

“When I see Israel institute a law that recognizes it as a Jewish State and does not recognize the other religions living in it and we still uphold it as a democracy in the Middle East, I almost chuckle because I know if we see that in any other society we would criticize it, we would call it out,” Omar said. “We do that to Iran, we do that to any other place that upholds its religion.”

Anti-Semitic Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) compares Israel to Iran, which is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, claims Israel is not a democracy

Omar, who is on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, appears to suggest that Israel should not be allowed to be a Jewish state pic.twitter.com/MsBixmBXne

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) January 30, 2019

Tel Aviv University lecturer Emmanuel Navon has argued in the Journal that Israel’s Declaration of Independence provides equal rights to non-Jews living in Israel, but gives Jews the sole right to self-determination, which is all the nation-state law does.

“Israel’s nation-state law does what most European constitutions do: it specifies that the right to self-determination belongs to the majority nation; it describes the flag; and it codifies the country’s official language, national anthem, and national holidays,” Navon wrote. “The new nation-state law is the equivalent of a few articles in European constitutions. The new basic law does not replace other basic laws but completes them.”

Omar is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and has accused Israel of hypnotizing the world, which she said she didn’t know was an anti-Semitic trope. She serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.