Ilhan Omar, who has a history of making anti-Semitic remarks and displaying bias against Israel, was promoted to the position of vice chair of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Global Human Rights on Feb. 11

MEMRI via JNS

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) told Qatar’s Al-Araby TV last week that she had demanded that the Biden administration support the referral of Israel to the International Criminal Court.

In an interview that was aired on Feb. 12, Omar said, “The U.S. should not delegitimize the ICC and the things it must do,” adding, “it is shocking that the legitimacy of the ICC is something that is being questioned.” The court’s ability to “investigate, probe and render justice” was being undermined in the United States, she said.­

The ICC’s pre-trial chamber ruled on Feb. 5 that the court’s jurisdiction extends to “the territories occupied by Israel since 1967,” meaning Judea and Samaria, including eastern Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. The decision means that the ICC can now launch an investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes in these areas. The ruling drew heavy criticism, both in Israel and the United States, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling it “pure anti-Semitism,” and the U.S. State Department issuing a formal objection.

Asked by the interviewer about U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken’s statement that the Biden administration has no plans to reverse Trump’s move of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, Omar said, “It doesn’t currently seem like a lot will be changed, but there will be an opportunity for us to push for the United States to stand for its values and principles.”

She also expressed her support for the administration removing Yemen’s Houthi rebels from its list of foreign terrorist organizations, saying it had restored some “order and normalcy.”

“The last administration took a lot of actions, including the designation of certain groups as terrorist. We welcome the willingness from this administration to reverse course,” she said.

Omar becomes vice chair of a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee 

Ilhan Omar, who has a history of making anti-Semitic remarks and displaying bias against Israel, was promoted to the position of vice chair of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Global Human Rights on Feb. 11.

The Zionist Organization of America criticized Omar’s “outrageous” promotion and reiterated its calls to remove the politician from the Foreign Affairs Committee.

“Omar should certainly not be elevated to her new leadership position, which will give her an even bigger platform for spewing her hateful anti-Semitism, Israel-bashing and promotion of boycotts against the Middle East’s only human-rights-loving democracy, Israel,” said ZOA national president Mort Klein and chair Mark Levenson. “Elevating Omar to a position overseeing ‘global human rights’ is a dangerous travesty that will help to mainstream and legitimize Israel-hatred and Jew-hatred.”