House Democrat Questions “Allegiance” of U.S. Ambassador to Israel

Rep. Ted Lieu lashed out at Ambassador David Freidman this week, irate that our envoy to Israel did not “properly” stand up for his Democratic colleagues Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib after they were barred from traveling to the country.

“You are an American,” tweeted Lieu. “Your allegiance should be to America, not to a foreign power. You should be defending the right of Americans to travel to other countries.”

In phrasing it this way, Lieu – either purposefully or inadvertently – got very close to the anti-Semitic “dual-loyalty” smears that have been a hallmark of Jewish hatred in Washington for decades. This, incidentally, is a smear that Omar herself is very familiar with, having trafficked in it herself on several occasions this year. Lieu apologized for the slur.

But if we’re going to seriously talk about allegiances to the U.S., we’d be far more interested in discussing those of Omar and Tlaib, neither of whom have ever said anything positive about the United States (that we can recall, anyway). Along with fellow Squad member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, these lawmakers are relentlessly anti-American, anti-Israel, and pro-…well, pro anything and anyone that undermines our national security, our cultural coherence, and our standing in the world. That includes, but is not limited to, terrorist organizations, illegal immigrants, Iran, Venezuela, and the hostile actors currently posing as “leadership” in the Palestinian territories.

The truth is, Omar and Tlaib were not interested in traveling to Israel in good faith. This is proven by a number of things, not the least of which is their own personal history of statements against the nation and their support of the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement. It is also proven by the fact that they rejected an offer to travel with a bipartisan contingent of congresspeople, which was organized by AIPAC. That group, which mounted a successful trip to Israel last week, met with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders as a demonstration of goodwill and American ambassadorship.

Why didn’t Tlaib and Omar want to be part of this group? Why did they insist on their own, special trip?

Because they wanted to stir up trouble. This is clear from their itinerary, which while it didn’t allow for any time to meet with Israeli government officials, told of Omar and Tlaib’s intent to visit “Palestine,” a country that doesn’t actually exist except in the minds of those who would see Israel destroyed. It’s also worth realizing that their trip was planned by MIFTAH, an anti-Semitic group that regularly honors Palestinian terrorists.

Omar and Tlaib may have pulled the wool over the eyes of American liberals who, in their neverending bleeding-heartery, always take the side of “those most brown” in any conflict. But they haven’t fooled Israel, and they damn sure haven’t fooled President Trump. And if anyone is to have their “allegiance” questioned, it should be these two.