(PatriotWise.com) — On Tuesday, the House voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution reaffirming support for Israel and condemning antisemitism just days after progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal was forced to apologize for referring to Israel as a “racist state,” NBC News reported.
With 195 Democrats joining Republicans, the resolution passed 412 to 9.
The nine Democrats who voted against the nonbinding resolution included Squad members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Jamaal Bowman, and Rashida Tlabi.
Jayapal voted in favor of the resolution.
During a press conference on Monday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy noted that Jayapal is not the first Democrat House member to make anti-Semitic comments, the Daily Caller reported.
McCarthy specifically called out some of the previous anti-Semitic remarks made by Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, asking who “in their right mind” would say the things they have said. He said if the Democrat conference wants to show that it is not anti-Semitic, “they need to do something about it.”
Last weekend, Jayapal, the Chair of the House Progressive Caucus, caused outrage after lashing out at Israel during the Netroots Nation conference in Chicago.
After being interrupted by “Free Palestine” protesters holding Palestinian flags, Jayapal boasted of participating in protests in support of Palestine and said she has been “fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state.”
Faced with significant blowback from both sides of the aisle, Jayapal issued a statement clarifying her remarks, claiming that she was trying to “defuse a tense situation.”
Jayapal claimed that she does not believe that Israel as a nation is racist, but added that she believes that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “extreme right-wing government” has “outright racist policies.”
In a statement on Monday, 43 House Democrats reaffirmed support for Israel and condemned Jayapal’s remarks, calling them “unacceptable.”
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