>
A group representing more than 2,000 rabbis is affirming its support for keeping Rep. Ilhan Omar off the Foreign Affairs Committee as a “step” to crack down on anti-Semitic speech in the US.
In a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the rabbis wrote asking the House to “follow” a Republican promise to remove the Minnesota Democrat from the committee she currently sits on. it performs.
The communication from the Coalition for Jewish Values comes as some Republican members of the House have expressed that they would not support McCarthy’s plans to strip Omar of his assignment on the panel.
“This is not a political matter, but one of moral conscience, and a necessary step to quell the rising tide of anti-Semitic speech and violence now affecting Jewish communities across the United States,” the group wrote in the Monday letter.
A group of more than 2,000 rabbis are demanding that House Republicans follow Chairman Kevin McCarthy’s efforts to oust Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) from the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee.
The letter, signed by the group’s president, Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld, and managing director, Rabbi Yaakov Menken, noted that they sent three other letters to former President Nancy Pelosi at the 117th Congress, which were ignored.
House Republicans are scrambling to find a way to oust the progressive representative from the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee considering several members of the GOP said they would vote against the measure if it comes to a vote.
The president of the Coalition for Jewish Values, Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld, sent a fourth letter to Congress urging Omar’s removal to help “quell the rising tide of violence and anti-Semitic speech.”
The Washington Times reported on Monday that a “back door” strategy is being explored, such as having only members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee vote, if the House Rules Committee determines such a move is appropriate.
Democrats, however, could push to reverse the committee’s action with their own floor vote, however House Speaker Kevin McCarthy could block such a motion.
Over the weekend, Omar continued to defend herself against comments she’s made in the past about Israel, which were branded as anti-Semitic, the justification Republicans are using to potentially oust her from the important committee assignment.
“I certainly didn’t know or didn’t know that the word ‘hypnotized’ was a trope,” the Minnesota progressive said on CNN. “I wasn’t aware of the fact that there are tropes about Jews and money. That has been a very enlightening part of this journey.’
During a press conference last week, Omar also noted that the comments were made in the first weeks of his term in Congress, in 2019, and he has since apologized.
I have addressed it, I have apologized. Two and a half quarters have passed,’ said Omar.
The letter sent Monday comes after the group sent three letters to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the 117th Congress, which they said were ignored.
However, McCarthy remained determined to expel her from the committee.
‘Now, Congresswoman Omar, what she’s said, as a member of Congress, she said, people only love Israel because of the Benjamins. She said on 9/11: ‘Something happened here.’ She compared the US military and Israeli security forces to Hamas going further and claiming it from others within the Middle East,” McCarty told The Washington Times.
But it seems increasingly likely that he doesn’t have the votes.
Republican Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Victoria Spartz of Indiana and Ken Buck of Colorado have indicated they will vote against Omar’s removal.
“I think we shouldn’t be getting involved in this tit-for-tat,” Buck said on Meet the Press NOW on Friday. ‘I oppose the selection or removal of Congresswoman Omar from [the] committee.’
In addition, Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, who all but derailed McCarthy’s presidential bid, said he was “undecided” on a tv interview monday night.
“The reason why I think a lot of Republicans want to remove Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee is because they don’t like what she has to say,” Gaetz said, adding that that was not a good enough reason.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy remained determined to remove Omar from office. But House Republicans are struggling to find a way to do this after several Republican lawmakers said they would vote against the measure if it came to a full vote.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who launched committees herself in the last Congress for comments she made, said some of her colleagues shared “First Amendment concerns.”
“This is really a national security issue,” Greene said.
When pressed by DailyMail.com to define her national security concerns, Greene explained: “If you have those kinds of views on our ally Israel, that’s a big, big problem.”
Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana told reporters that Omar was being removed for comments he made in Congress, while Democrats in the last Congress removed Greene from their committees for comments he made. did before taking office.
‘Even if Omar were removed from the foreign affairs committee, he would still be allowed to serve on other committees. So a lot of these big differences,’ explained Scalise, R-La., adding that Omar herself voted to remove Greene from the committees.
McCarthy will also be without the vote of Rep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican who recently fell from a ladder cutting trees at his home and is recovering from multiple injuries.
As part of the sentiment for Republicans’ anti-COVID protocols, the new House Republican majority voted as part of their rule package to end proxy voting and allow members to participate in committee meetings through by Zoom.
Last week, McCarthy unilaterally removed California Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from the Intelligence Committee, a move that did not require a vote in the House of Representatives.