Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., announced Wednesday that she will not attend Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s speech to a joint session of Congress next week.
Posting a series of comments to social media, the Democratic representative wrote, “There is no way in hell I am attending the joint session address from a President whose country has banned me and denied Rashida Tlaib the ability to see her grandma.”
In her series of posts, Omar also commented on the judicial reforms calling them “a judicial coup to centralize power and undermine checks on their power.”
Omar implied that Israel is solely responsible for “the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank history.” Reports indicate that many Palestinians killed this year have been members of terror groups killed during firefights with Israeli soldiers.
Herzog was invited last year to give a speech celebrating Israel’s 75th anniversary to a joint session of Congress by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. That invitation was re-extended by current House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
In August 2019, Israel barred Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from entering the country in an official capacity due to their support for the boycott, divest, and sanction (BDS) movement against Israel. The Israeli government consented to allow Tlaib to visit her grandmother in a personal capacity, if she agreed to respect Israeli law and refrain from supporting BDS during her visit. Tlaib refused to accept those terms and did not visit her grandmother.
Omar has previously come under fire from Democrats in the House of Representatives for previous statements which used several antisemitic tropes to criticize Israel, or those lobbying for Israel.
In 2021, Omar was called out by a group of 12 Jewish Democrat representatives when she made comments accusing the U.S. and Israel of “crimes against humanity” on the level with Hamas, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.
“We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity,” Omar posted. “We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the US, Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.”
Earlier this year, House Republicans voted to remove Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, specifically citing her anti-Israel comments and questioning her objectivity.
This article originally appeared on All Israel News and is reposted with permission.