Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) in 2016. Photo: Lorie Shaull via Flickr.

Top US Jewish leaders criticized as “disgraceful” comments made by Minnesota Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar on Wednesday, in which she said that Jewish and other members of Congress who had condemned her equation of Israel to Hamas were not “equally engaging in seeking justice.”

Earlier this month, Omar tweeted of a conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, “We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the US, Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.”

“I would emphasize that in Israel and Palestine, this includes crimes committed by both Israeli security forces and Hamas,” she told Blinken.

A torrent of criticism followed Omar’s tweet, with many seeing her as equating the US and Israel with terrorist groups.

Twelve Jewish members of Congress issued an open letter slamming Omar, saying that “equating the United States and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban is as offensive as it is misguided. Ignoring the differences between democracies governed by the rule of law and contemptible organizations that engage in terrorism at best discredits one’s intended argument and at worst reflects deep-seated prejudice.”

In an interview broadcast on Tuesday, CNN reporter Jake Tapper asked Omar if she understood why many of her colleagues, “especially Jews,” felt that several of her past statements were antisemitic.

Omar replied, “I’ve welcomed anytime, you know, my colleagues have asked to have a conversation, to learn from them, for them to learn from me.”

“I think it’s really important for these members to realize that they haven’t been partners in justice,” she continued. “They haven’t been, you know, equally engaging in seeking justice around the world.”

She further claimed that she had experienced injustice in ways that her critics had not.

Leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations called the comments “disgraceful” in a statement on Wednesday.

“Representative Omar needs to better understand the history of the Jewish people and the commitment to social justice of her Jewish colleagues in Congress in order to understand true Jewish values, including the mandate of tikkun olam (social justice), chesed (acts of kindness) and tzedaka (charity) that guide the work of the American Jewish community, the Jewish State, and the Jewish people everywhere,” said Conference Chair Dianne Lob, Chair, CEO William Daroff and Vice Chair Malcolm Hoenlein.

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, commented, “To accuse Jewish members of not being involved in ‘justice’ is ignorant of their records, and especially offensive when it’s an effort to distract from your own antisemitic statements.”

“Rep. Omar needs to lead with accountability, not denial — definitely not blaming the victim,” he added.

https://twitter.com/JGreenblattADL/status/1410228538683400192

Avi Mayer, the managing director of global communications at the American Jewish Committee, responded to Omar’s claims by saying, “Ilhan Omar responding to charges of past antisemitism by bringing new antisemitic tropes into the convo is quality TV.”

On Wednesday, responding to the furor, Omar issued a lengthy Twitter thread, saying “I know that many of my colleagues — both Jewish and non-Jewish — deeply share [a] commitment to fighting injustice.”

https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/1410245285134151686

She also cited Black-Jewish collaboration during the civil rights movement, including by the legendary Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, as well as a number of left-wing Jewish organizations “reminding us that the Jewish community have always been on the frontlines of social change.”

Commenting on Omar’s thread, the Wednesday statement from the Conference of Presidents said that citing “examples of individual Jews and Jewish organizations that she finds noteworthy do not mitigate her bigoted comments.”

“We remain greatly concerned with the pattern of her statements attacking the Jewish people and, specifically in this case, Jewish members of Congress,” the leaders of the umbrella organization said.

Editor’s note: this article was updated with further comments from US Jewish groups.