'No way in hell': Rep. Ilhan Omar says she won't attend Israeli president's address in protest

Miles J. Herszenhorn, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said “there is no way in hell” she will attend Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s address to a joint session of Congress next week.

Omar announced she would boycott Herzog’s speech in a statement on Twitter Wednesday. The Democratic lawmaker criticized the Israeli president over the country’s human rights violations and for representing "the most right wing government in Israel’s history." She also accused Israel's government of "essentially putting a nail in the coffin of peace and a two-state solution" with Palestine.

Herzog has served as Israel’s president since 2021. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., first invited Herzog last year to address a joint session of Congress in honor of Israel’s 75th birthday.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who succeeded Pelosi in the role after Republicans won control of the House in the 2022 midterm elections, announced late last month that Herzog would visit Washington on July 19 for the address.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. on the floor before President Joe Biden speaks during the State of the Union address from the House chamber of the United States Capitol in Washington.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. on the floor before President Joe Biden speaks during the State of the Union address from the House chamber of the United States Capitol in Washington.

This is not the first time Omar has not attended a joint address to Congress in protest. She also opposed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to Congress over human rights abuses in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Omar is one of the most outspoken critics of Israel and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians. In 2019, she and a fellow progressive Democrat, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., were barred from entering Israel by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Omar and Tlaib are two of just three Muslim members of Congress.

Omar noted on Twitter that Herzog's visit "comes during the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank in history." The death toll of Palestinians killed in the West Bank this year has risen past 100, according to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

“The United States can and should use its diplomatic tools to engage with the Israeli government, but giving the current government the honor of a joint televised address sends the absolute wrong signal at the wrong time,” Omar added.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ilhan Omar to boycott speech by Israel President Isaac Herzog