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Menendez Statement on Rep. Omar’s Anti-Semitic Comments

WASHINGTON – Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement on Representative Ilhan Omar’s anti-Semitic comments. 

“It is critically important that we continue to unequivocally condemn anti-Semitism in all its forms here in the United States and across the world. Rep. Omar’s comments were anti-Semitic, harmful and woefully uninformed. I join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in rejecting her anti-Semitic tropes and gross mischaracterization of the U.S.-Israeli relationship.

“The unshakeable bond between Israel and the United States is rooted in our shared values, history, and security relationship. Rhetoric has the power to bring people together, or to drive them apart; power to appeal to our better angels or to fan the flames of fear and bigotry. Rep. Omar’s comments are a reminder, yet again, that anti-Semitism is never dead, but dormant and all too easily awoken.

“I hope we all commit to educating ourselves about the history of anti-Semitism and the enduring values that bind the United States and Israel.”

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