Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson compared Jewish settlers in Israel to "termites" when speaking at an event sponsored by the anti-Israel organization U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.
The Washington Free Beacon reports that Johnson condemns Jewish settlers, who he said take homes away from Palestinians.
"There has been a steady (stream), almost like termites can get into a residence and eat before you know that you've been eaten up and you fall in on yourself, there has been settlement activity that has marched forward with impunity and at an ever-increasing rate to the point where it has become alarming," Johnson said.
"We've gotten to the point where the thought of a Palestinian homeland gets further and further removed from reality," Johnson said, referencing Israeli roads cutting off Palestinian neighborhoods and Palestinians being banned from using those roads.
Johnson said that Israeli settlers take land that belongs to Palestinians "just because somebody did not spend the night there."
He compared Israel's defense minister to Donald Trump, and said that Israel's government now "is the most right-wing government ever to exist in the state of Israel in its history."
A spokesman Monday afternoon said that Johnson did not mean to insult Jews or Israelis with his comments,
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. He said Johnson was talking about the West Bank settlement process.
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