Democrats slam Pramila Jayapal for ‘unacceptable’ comment that Israel is a ‘racist’ state

Democratic congresswoman’s off-the-cuff remark to a group of pro-Palestinian protesters drew condemnation from her own party’s leaders

A group of prominent Democrats has slammed the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus after she called the State of Israel “racist” during a public appearance over the weekend.

Washington Representative Pramila Jayapal, who had made the incendiary comment during an exchange with pro-Palestinian protesters who’d interrupted her keynote at the Netroots Nation conference on Saturday, had moved quickly to retract her remarks in a statement issued by her office on Sunday.

In that statement, she attributed the offensive comment to her desire to “defuse a tense situation during a panel where fellow members of Congress were being protested” and said it was “important to clarify” her statement because “words do matter”.

She added that “the idea of Israel as a nation” was “not racist” in her view, but she did stress that she does believe that such a label can be applied to the current Likud-led government headed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, because it “has engaged in discriminatory and outright racist policies” and has “extreme racists” within it who are “driving” such policies.

But in a draft statement, a group of top pro-Israel Democrats said they were “deeply concerned” about the CPC chair’s “unacceptable comments” while conceding that they also appreciated her decision to issue a retraction.

The Democratic House members, including Josh Gottheimer, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Brad Schneider and Jared Moskowitz, said “efforts to delegitimise and demonise” Israel are “dangerous and anti-semitic” and are harmful to American national security because it is “is critical to our fight against terror, and our defense and intelligence collaboration continues to strengthen our leadership in the world”.

Ms Jayapal’s now-retracted remarks also drew a sharp rebuke from her party’s leaders, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu.

In a separate statement, which did not mention the Washington congresswoman by name, the Democratic leaders said unequivocally that Israel “is not a racist state”.

“America and Israel have a uniquely special relationship anchored in our shared democratic values and strategic interests. As House Democratic leaders, we strongly support Israel’s right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people. We are also firmly committed to a robust two-state solution where Israel and the Palestinian people can live side by side in peace and prosperity,” they said, though they also conceded that there are “individual members” of the Israeli government “with whom we strongly disagree”.

“Government officials come and go. The special relationship between the United States and Israel will endure. We are determined to make sure support for Israel in the Congress remains strongly bipartisan,” they said.