Rep. Pramila Jayapal walks back her comments calling Israel a 'racist state'

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, apologized Sunday for characterizing Israel as a “racist state.”

Jayapal issued her criticism of Israel while attempting to quiet down a group holding up Palestinian flags at a conference for the progressive Netroots Nation over the weekend.

“Hey guys, can I say something? Can I say something as somebody that’s been in the streets and has participated in a lot of demonstrations?” Jayapal said. “I want you to know that we have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state, that the Palestinian people deserve self-determination and autonomy, that the dream of a two-state solution is slipping away from us, that it does not even feel possible.”

“While you may have arguments with whether or not some of us onstage are fighting hard enough, I do want you to know that there is an organized opposition on the other side, and it isn’t the people that are on this stage,” she added.

Jayapal’s comments were swiftly met with backlash on both sides of the aisle after a video of her remarks was widely circulated on social media.

Jayapal later walked back her remarks Sunday, issuing a lengthy statement to clarify her remarks while defending the sentiment behind them. Jayapal said she was trying to “defuse a tense situation” at the conference and offered “my apologies to those who I have hurt with my words.”

“Words do matter and so it is important that I clarify my statement,” Jayapal said. “I do not believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist.”

“I do, however, believe that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing government has engaged in discriminatory and outright racist policies and that there are extreme racists driving that policy within the leadership of the current government,” she added.

In a letter circulated later Sunday, a group of House Democrats condemned Jayapal’s remarks, according to a Democratic aide with knowledge of the matter.

The authors of the letter are Democratic Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, Greg Landsman of Ohio, Brad Schneider of Illinois, Dean Phillips of Minnesota, Jared Moskowitz of Florida and Kathy Manning of North Carolina.

“We are deeply concerned about Representative Pramila Jayapal’s unacceptable comments about our historic, democratic ally Israel, and we appreciate her retraction,” they wrote.

“Regardless of extremist views from groups aligned with either party, efforts to rewrite history and question the Jewish State’s right to exist, or our historic bipartisan relationship, will never succeed in Congress. ... We will never allow anti-Zionist voices that embolden antisemitism to hijack the Democratic Party and country,” the letter said.

House Democratic leaders also sought to distance themselves from Jayapal’s remarks in a statement Sunday, saying that Israel is “not a racist state.”

“As House Democratic leaders, we strongly support Israel’s right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people,” wrote House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York; Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts; and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu, both of California.

Jayapal’s remarks were issued days before Israeli President Isaac Herzog is scheduled to visit the White House and deliver an address to Congress during his two-day trip to the nation’s capital this week.