Pelosi: Anti-Semitism is un-American

Speaking at the AIPAC policy conference, the House speaker rejected questioning the “loyalty or patriotism” of pro-Israel Americans.

By David Jablinowitz, World Israel News 

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the AIPAC policy conference on Tuesday that American support for the Jewish state is “relentlessly bipartisan.”

Speaking amid accusations that the Democratic Party was turning against the Jewish State, Pelosi declared that “from Israel’s founding through the present day, our pledge remains the same: Israel and America are connected, now and forever. We will never allow anyone to make Israel a wedge issue.”

However, the leading House Democrat also leveled thinly-veiled criticism against one of her own party’s members of Congress, Rep. Ilhan Omar, who has been under fire for various comments concerning Jews and Israel, including one questioning whether American supporters of Israel had a dual loyalty.

In her AIPAC speech, Pelosi countered: “In our democratic societies, we should welcome legitimate debate on how to best honor our values and advance our priorities – without questioning loyalty or patriotism.”

In her appearance before the major annual event of the pro-Israel lobby group, Pelosi also spoke out against anti-Semitism, stating that “to be anti-Semitic is to be anti-American.”

Pelosi’s words come in the aftermath of the October murder of 11 Jewish worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and what the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says has been the sharpest rise in reported anti-Jewish hate crimes since the organization started tracking such incidents some four decades ago.

They also come during a time of tension within the Democratic party brought on by the anti-Semitic tropes used by Omar, including the insinuation that AIPAC was paying off American politicians to support Israel, a statement that was widely viewed as employing imagery of Jews using their money to gain influence.