Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, ordinarily a strong supporter of Israeli policy, referred to the country’s “apartheid wall” during an address in the US House of Representatives.
Israel has again been in the headlines in Washington this week after Rep Pramila Jayapal of Washington called Israel a “racist state” before walking her comments back over the weekend.
The House overwhelmingly voted in favour on Tuesday of a resolution backing Israel that did not name Ms Jayapal but appeared to be crafted in response to her comments.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, meanwhile, is set to address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday that several progressive lawmakers have announced they will boycott.
On Tuesday, Ms Greene waded into the fray. In a speech on the importance of borders, Ms Greene quoted from an article that referred to the giant wall Israel has constructed between its territory and the Palestinian West Bank as an “apartheid” wall.
“Walls are very important for most countries,” Ms Greene began. “There’s many countries with walls. I have one article here that comes from earlier this month that says, talking about 65 countries that have erected fences on their borders, also talking about walls, talking about security fears, widespread refusals to help refugees have fueled a new spate of wall-building around the world.
“They include Israel’s apartheid — “apartheid” — wall, India’s 2,500-mile fence around Bangladesh, and Morocco’s huge sand berm,” Ms Greene continued. “So many countries around the world agree that walls are important in protecting the people within the country.”
It was not immediately clear which article Ms Greene was citing, but if the second-term lawmaker from Georgia chooses to stand by her characterisation of Israel’s policy towards the Palestinians as apartheid, she will be in good company. Two years ago, Human Rights Watch said Israel is guilty of crimes against humanity in the West Bank and Gaza including apartheid.
Public opinion in the Democratic Party, meanwhile, has shifted to the point where more Democrats now say their sympathies primarily lie with the Palestinians rather than Israel.
That change in opinion has not, however, been reflected in Congress. Only nine members of the House opposed Tuesday’s resolution on support for Israel, all progressives. With just a pair of exceptions, the rest of the Democratic caucus and all voting Republicans supported the resolution.
Mr Herzog, the Israeli president, serves as head of state while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu serves as head of government. Mr Herzog visited President Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday.
