Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog made a statement in response to Representative Rashid Tlaib’s comments blaming the Hamas-Israel war on Israeli “apartheid,” in an X post on October 9.
Herzog wrote “[h]ow much more blood needs to be spilled for you to overcome your prejudice and unequivocally condemn Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror organization? Hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians massacred in cold blood on a holy day. Babies kidnapped from their mother's arms and taken to Gaza. An 85-year-old woman in a wheelchair and a Holocaust survivor taken hostage. Is that not enough, @RashidaTlaib?”
How much more blood needs to be spilled for you to overcome your prejudice and unequivocally condemn Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror organization?Hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians massacred in cold blood on a holy day. Babies kidnapped from their mother's arms and taken to… pic.twitter.com/tRvvwlhzX8
— Ambassador Michael Herzog (@AmbHerzog) October 8, 2023
Herzog attached a photo of Tlaib’s comments, which read: “I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today and everyday. I am determined as ever to fight for a just future where everyone can live in peace, without fear and with true freedom, equal rights and human dignity.
“The path to that future must include lifting the blockade, ending the occupation and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance.
“The failure to recognize the violent reality of living under siege, occupation and apartheid makes no one safer. No person, no child anywhere should have to suffer or live in fear of violence.
“We cannot ignore the humanity in each other. As long as our country provides billions in unconditional funding to support the apartheid government, this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue.”
Representative Tlaib’s continued jabs at Israel
Representative Tlaib had attempted to hold a Nakba day event in congress, The Jerusalem Post reported in May of 2023.
Also in May, Tlaib claimed that she struggled with the idea of uprooting Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
“Some settlements have been there for so long, right?” she said. “And just the idea around taking families that — that’s been their home — it’s just completely uprooting, forcibly displacing. It’s something I struggle with because, like, we’re doing it all over again, right? This happened during the Nakba.”
Despite her apparent sympathies, she had also said in 2021 that it was impossible to be progressive and support Israel’s government – whom she accused of being an apartheid government.