Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

In Oct. 7 statement, Jayapal lists skipping Netanyahu address to Congress

“Let us respect the generational trauma that unites so many otherwise diverse populations,” the Washington Democrat stated.

Pramila Jayapal
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.). Credit: House Committee on Education and the Workforce Democrats.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who has called Israel a “racist state” and has hedged multiple times when condemning Hamas terrorists for raping Jewish women, released a statement marking the one-year anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7.

“One year ago today, Hamas committed a horrific terrorist attack on Israel that brutally killed nearly 1,200 people, wounded more than 5,000, and took 251 individuals hostage—many of them children,” she stated. “I strongly condemned Hamas for the attack and called immediately for a return of all hostages.”

The congresswoman condemned rising antisemitism and called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Among the items she listed as examples of how she has been “a constant advocate for a negotiated ceasefire, the return of all hostages and the protection of innocent civilian lives” is boycotting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress.

“She skipped Prime Minister Netanyahu’s congressional address, instead spending the day with the families of hostages as well as organizations working toward peace and security,” Jayapal’s office stated. It added that she “led an effort calling on the administration to use all tools possible to dissuade the Israeli government from moving forward with an offensive invasion of Rafah.”

“This political environment could discourage congressional committee staff and federal agency personnel from pursuing investigations or enforcement actions involving antisemitism,” Karen Paikin Barall of the Brandeis Center told JNS.
The Nachala Movement says 1,500 families are waiting to move into the Strip, as supporters call for the renewal of communities dismantled in 2005.
“There is not, and there will not be, a Palestinian state,” the Israeli prime minister pledged. He also called for the corruption trial against him to be dropped.
“Parents send their children to school to learn reading, writing and math, not to be taught to hate Israel or embrace radical political causes,” stated Rep. Tim Walberg, chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee.