At a “candidate forum” that took place in a Minneapolis synagogue in August, now-Congresswoman Ilhan Omar stated that she believed the movement to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel (BDS) is “not helpful in getting [a] two-state solution.” Yet on Sunday, after her successful election, her office reportedly stated that she “believes in and supports the BDS movement.” Meanwhile, the press has celebrated the fact that she and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan are the first two Muslim women to be elected to Congress. The press, however, has not showed much interest in reporting on the attitude of either toward Jews, as David Harsanyi writes:

Omar, who replaces Keith Ellison—a former acolyte of the anti-Semitic minister Louis Farrakhan—also has some exotic notions about the Jewish people. In a 2012 tweet, for instance, [she] explained that “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel. #Gaza #Palestine #Israel.” Meanwhile, . . . Tlaib . . . wants to cut aid to the Jewish state because supporting it “doesn’t fit the values of our country.”

The writer David Steinberg identified 105 news stories written in the immediate aftermath of Omar’s victory, and not a single one mentioned her belief that Jewry possessed mind-control abilities or that Israel was “evil.” No one called on the Democratic party to distance itself from this rhetoric. No one at the partisan Anti-Defamation League, ostensibly tasked with stopping anti-Jewish libel but in reality busy hyperventilating over every far-flung right-wing bigot with a handful of supporters, paid her any attention.

Now, it isn’t inherently anti-Semitic to be critical of Israeli political leadership or policies. . . . But Omar used a well-worn anti-Semitic trope about the preternatural ability of a nefarious Jewish cabal to deceive the world. . . . Omar had a chance to retract, or at least refine, her statement. Instead, she doubled down. “These accusations [of anti-Semitism] are without merit,” she claimed, blaming Jewish Islamophobia for the backlash. “They are rooted in bigotry toward a belief about what Muslims are stereotyped to believe.” . . . Omar even wants the U.S. to normalize relations with the Holocaust-denying terror-state of Iran. . . .

Omar’s defenders will claim she’s anti-Israel, not anti-Jewish. “Anti-Zionism” has been the preferred justification for hatred of Jews in institutions of education and within progressive activism for a long time. Now it’s coming for politics. Democrats can either [refuse to accept it], or they can remain silent.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.