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‘Far-left has serious anti-Israel problem,’ says US House committee chair

“Israel is our closest friend and ally in the Middle East, and the only democracy in the region,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said.

Tom Cole
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) speaks at the 2020 AFGE Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 10, 2020. Credit: Keith Mellnick/AFGE.

For months, Democrats have refused to condemn the “violent, antisemitic, un-American and pro-terrorist mobs” that have taken over U.S. college campuses, “endangering Jewish students and other innocent bystanders,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) stated.

“Sadly, this is no surprise. Antisemitism is a disease that the far-left, along with liberal university leaders, has allowed to spread,” said the chair of the House Committee on Appropriations.

“Over the past year, we have watched Democrats spread anti-Israel rhetoric time and time again. Some have called for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to be replaced,” he added. “One said it was an ‘honor’ to visit with the pro-Hamas protestors at Columbia University, one defended the phrase ‘from the river to the sea,’ which implies the destruction of Israel, one denounced Israel as a ‘racist state’ and more.”

“The recent actions of the Democrats with respect to Israel are both outrageous and inappropriate,” he said. “They truly seem to have lost all sense of moral and political clarity and have made it very clear—the far-left has a serious anti-Israel problem.”

Cole described Israel as “our closest friend and ally in the Middle East, and the only democracy in the region.”

“Although I have no faith that they will, I am calling on all of them, as well as the morally bankrupt university leaders who are allowing pro-terrorist protests on their campuses, to stand with our great ally, Israel, at this critical moment,” he said.

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