Ilhan Omar Says She Learned From — But Does Not Regret — Her Israel Comments
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) speaks during a rally to express solidarity with immigrants on May 16, 2019 in Washington, DC. Image by Zach Gibson/Getty Images
Representative Ilhan Omar said on CBS that she does not regret her past comments about Israel, but she “is grateful for the opportunity to really learn how my words make people feel.”
Omar, a freshman congresswoman from Minnesota, said in February that AIPAC paid politicians to be pro-Israel, a comment that was viewed as Anti-Semitic for accusing Jews of using their money to nefariously manipulate governments. Omar later apologized for her remarks.
When asked about it by CBS’s Gayle King, Omar compared it to something of a misunderstanding, saying that comments held different weight for people.
“So you don’t regret your words either?” King asked.
“I do not,” Omar said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to really learn how my words make people feel and have taken every single opportunity I’ve gotten to make sure that people understood that I apologize for it.”
King cut in to ask Omar if she would confirm that she’s not anti-Semitic.
Omar responded: “Yes and that nothing I said, at least to me, was meant for that purpose.”
Alyssa Fisher is a writer at the Forward. Email her at fisher@forward.com
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
