Ilhan Oman In Hot Water After Statement About The Israeli President's Upcoming Speech To Congress

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) made headlines and a diplomatic incident in a single Twitter thread on Thursday when she posted that there is "no way in hell" she will attend an upcoming speech from Israeli President Isaac Herzog to a joint session of Congress.

The congresswoman, who has been censured and even removed from the Foreign Affairs Committee due to a history of antisemitic remarks, social media posts, and an overall hostility to one of America's most staunch middle-eastern allies, claimed that the presence of Herzog at Congress sends an "absolute wrong signal" during a tense time between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization. The PLO is notably a group that lends political legitimacy to Hamas terrorists who conduct rocket attacks on Israel with frightening regularity.

"There is no way in hell I am attending the joint session address from a President whose country has banned me and denied Rashida Tlaib the ability to see her grandma," Omar said in a Twitter thread.

• "WE SHOULD NOT BE INVITING THE PRESIDENT OF ISRAEL—A GOVERNMENT WHO UNDER ITS CURRENT PRIME MINISTER BARRED THE FIRST TWO MUSLIM WOMEN ELECTED TO CONGRESS FROM VISITING THE COUNTRY—TO GIVE A JOINT ADDRESS TO CONGRESS. 
• Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s address comes on behalf of the most right wing government in Israel’s history, at a time when the government is openly promising to “crush” Palestinian hopes of statehood—essentially putting a nail in the coffin of peace and a two-state solution. 
• It comes as extreme right wing Israeli cabinet members directly attack President Biden, saying Israel is 'no longer a star' on the US flag
• It also comes as the Israeli government is pushing through what legal experts describe as a judicial coup to centralize power and undermine checks on their power, prompting months of mass demonstrations against the government throughout Israel.
• And above all, it comes during the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank in history, immediately following Israel’s largest incursion into the occupied West Bank in two decades, one that flattened city blocks, and killed at least a dozen people
• Human rights groups, legal experts, and most of the international community has condemned the increasing violations of international law and human rights.
• These are all deeply concerning trends—especially considering the fact that we provide Israel with nearly $4 billion in annual military aid. 
• It is also not lost on me that the last time an Israeli leader was invited to give a joint address to Congress, he openly defied President Barack Obama and attacked his Middle East policy from the House Chamber. 
• While executive power in Israel is vested in the Prime Minister and his cabinet, the president as head of state as traditionally served as a “faithful policy ambassador” for the government in charge.
• Last month, I opposed the invitation for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a joint session based on his government’s human rights record.
• And this month I will not attend a similar address from Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
• 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.

It would seem that the congresswoman's penchant for inserting herself into U.S. foreign policy without authorization or justification hasn't diminished since her dismissal from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

It was there in 2022 that she caused a full-blown diplomatic incident with an ill-conceived visit to the disputed region of Kashmir where she openly insulted our allies in India drawing condemnation from New Dehli, according to The New York Post. She also visited with recently ousted Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was facing criminal prosecution alongside President Arif Alvi for attempting to dissolve the country’s parliament.

Omars' most recent amateurish faux-pas in diplomacy is little different from her mild disaster in 2022, only better by virtue that at least she did it on American soil.