A strong and unexpected challenger against the famously anti-Israel, anti-Semitic Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is giving the first-term congresswoman a serious run for her seat in Minnesota’s upcoming Aug. 11 primary.
Antone Melton-Meaux is also liberal like Omar, but he rejects anti-Semitism and opposes the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement, which has earned him the support of two political action committees that back Israel, NORPAC and Pro-Israel America.
Melton-Meaux, 47, said the BDS movement “delegitimizes Israel and, frankly, doesn’t help the Palestinians as well.”
He has also said the congresswoman is more concerned with her “celebrity” and that she has not built bridges to the community during her term.
“She’s lost the trust of many in the Jewish community, and that’s very unfortunate,” he told JNS
And Omar, one of Congress’ most outspoken critics of Israel since taking office, just stepped in it again with a mailing against her opponent last week. Her campaign sent out a letter asking constituents, “Can We Trust Antone Melton-Meaux’s Money?” referring to his donors, many of whom are Jewish.
“Attacking big money is standard fare among Democrats. However, lacing those attacks with Jewish references has historically not been,” Melissa Braunstein wrote in the Washington Examiner. “It’s especially eyebrow-raising in Omar’s case given her planning to visit Israel with Miftah, a group that promotes blood libel, introducing legislation to boycott Israel that compares the world’s only Jewish state to Nazi Germany, and making anti-Semitic remarks related to voters and elected officials.”
Omar’s was roiled in several anti-Semitic controversies. She accused Israel of having hypnotized the world, alleged that American politicians support Israel because it was “all about the Benjamins” and she suggested that American Jews have divided loyalties between the U.S. and Israel. She has marginally apologized for these statements.
“Omar may be many things, but a friend of the Jews she is not,” Braunstein concluded.
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