Democrat Max Rose campaigning for Congress in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, on Aug. 3, 2018. Image by Ben Fractenberg

By Aiden Pink February 12, 2019

Rep. Max Rose of New York was the first Democratic congressman to criticize fellow Democratic member of Congress Ilhan Omar of Minnesota for her remarks on Sunday suggesting AIPAC pays politicians to be pro-Israel – but he also called out the Republican Party for what he described as their hypocrisy on the issue.

“Congresswoman Omar’s statements are deeply hurtful to Jews, including myself,” Rose wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “Implying that Americans support Israel because of money alone is offensive enough. But to go a step further, and retweet someone declaring their pain at her sentiment is simply unacceptable.” Omar had retweeted a critical comment from someone else saying “she might as well call us hook-nosed” before undoing the retweet.

After a deluge of criticism from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and many Jewish and non-Jewish members of Congress, Omar apologized. Rose said he accepted her apology, and told reporters outside his office that the Republicans also had to examine their own actions when it came to anti-Semitism, citing House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s October tweet accusing financiers with Jewish ancestry of trying to “buy” the upcoming midterm election.

“She’s a friend. I take her at her word. We share great values. She wants to see a great country, and I look forward to working with her,” he said. “I do want to point out that when Kevin McCarthy said that it was Bloomberg, and then it was Soros, and it was Steyer pulling the strings behind the scenes—none of you camped out. And their caucus stayed united and had his back, and none of you called him out on that. I just want you all to acknowledge that there’s some hypocrisy going on there, too. That caucus can’t be chickens—- in the face of anti-Semitism either.”

Omar tweeted on Monday night that she had met with Rose. “I appreciated your call to do better as a friend and ally and appreciate your courage in calling out the double standard in Congress,” she wrote.

Another Jewish member of Congress who met with Omar was Dean Phillips, who represents a Minnesota district neighboring Omar’s. Phillips said in a statement that he had wanted to meet with Omar before issuing a statement “in the hopes of converting a painful experience into a learning opportunity and a mutual commitment to pursue understanding. We agreed to move forward with a shared goal of working collaboratively to combat hatred and intolerance towards all persecuted communities, and commit to respectful debate of the issues important to each of us.”

Contact Aiden Pink at pink@forward.com or on Twitter, @aidenpink

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