Fox contributor and Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen: Rep. Ilhan Omar “wants to see Jews die”
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From the September 22 edition of Fox News' America Reports With John Roberts & Sandra Smith
SHANNON BREAM (FOX NEWS ANCHOR): President Biden talking a big game to his fellow world leaders during a speech at the UN yesterday. But strong-arming from fellow Democrats in D.C. could alienate a key ally. After progressives forced the House to cut $1 billion dollars for Israel's Iron Dome defense system from their spending bill. Marc Thiessen is a Washington Post columnist and a Fox News contributor. Marc, good to see you.
MARC THIESSEN (FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR AND WASHINGTON POST COLUMNIST): Good to see you, Shannon.
BREAM: The Wall Street Journal editorial board not too fond of this play, saying this. "The funding was shot down because a growing number of Democrats oppose anything that would help Israel, even if it promotes peace. Supporters of Israel should take note. If Iron Dome can lose Democratic Party support, then there is nothing pro-Israel that won't be in jeopardy in Congress." Your thoughts, Marc?
THIESSEN: This just shows the problem of anti-Semitism inside the Democratic Party. Let's not mince words. If you vote against the Iron Dome, you want Jews to die. It's that simple. There's no other way to explain the vote. The Iron Dome is a completely defensive system that stops terrorists from killing innocent civilians with rocket attacks. In the spring, Hamas launched over 4,600 rockets into Israel. Most of those were taken down by the Iron Dome which is why it's depleted and needs more funding, but imagine what – the civilian carnage that would've happened if those rockets had not been shot down. There would be thousands of dead men, women, and children, and by the way, not just Jews. Arab Israelis, Palestinians also are victims of these rocket attacks. So the idea -- the message that the Democrats are sending by voting this down and President Biden is sending by not calling out his party and demanding that this funding be included is that we tolerate anti-Semitism in our ranks, that there are people in the Democratic party who hate Jews, who don't wanna protect them from terrorists, who side with the terrorists against Israel, and we're gonna tolerate them, and not only that, we're going to make Ilhan Omar the vice-chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the leading anti-Semite in the squad.
BREAM: So apparently this sparked an urgent phone call from Israel's Foreign Minister to another member of House leadership on the Democrat side, Steny Hoyer. So this is an ally that is now very worried about what's happening here in the U.S., but as you mentioned the members who are responsible for this leverage, for getting this measure -- and by the way, one billion of all their talking about spending is like pocket change. So I'm not sure why the very targeted event at this specific expenditure, but why are Democrats allowing this to happen? I mean, they need the votes. They have a small margin. So there's only so much they can do if the squad walks, but will Democrats, will the mainstream media, will anyone say to them this is the position you're allowing to happen?
THIESSEN: So first of all, you're absolutely right that this is a tiny amount of money. This is a party that is fixing right now to spend $3.5 trillion on social spending so $1 billion for the Iron Dome is chump change, and it's needed because, as I said, the rockets were depleted during the spring terror attacks by Hamas. They need to replenish those supplies, but again, the question is why do the Democrats tolerate someone like Ilhan Omar not just in the ranks of their party but in the leadership of the House Foreign Affairs Committee? She is the vice-chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. This is a woman who said that support for Israel is all about the Benjamins, that people who support Israel and vote for funding for things like the Iron Dome are guilty of dual loyalty, of loyalty to a foreign country, who retweeted out the winner of the Holocaust -- Iran's Holocaust cartoon contest winner. Retweeted out those cartoons. This is a woman who wants to see Jews die, and she is second in command in the committee in Congress that sets policy regard to Israel. Why does Nancy Pelosi elevate her to that position?