Rep. Rashida Tlaib brands Benjamin Netanyahu a ‘genocidal maniac’ and warns she won’t ‘ever forget’ colleagues who met with him
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) raged against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday, calling the leader of the Jewish state a “genocidal maniac” in a social media post.
The far-left “Squad” member made the derisive remark in a post on her Instagram Story, where she also expressed contempt for congressional colleagues who have met with the prime minister amid Israel’s war against Hamas.
“Genocidal maniac. Every member of Congress who sits down with this murderer is supporting a war criminal,” Tlaib wrote, sharing a graphic from left-wing independent news outlet Democracy Now claiming that Netanyahu is “working to move Palestinians out of Gaza.”
“We will never ever forget,” the Michigan Democrat added.
“I am so sick and tired of our country funding and supporting a genocide and war on children,” Tlaib wrote in another Instagram Story on Wednesday. “Please don’t stop talking about Palestine.”
Her post included a video purportedly of a dead Palestinian infant and comes as the death toll in Gaza has surpassed the 20,000 mark, according to the Hamas-controlled health officials.
Tlaib’s comments come about a week after Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), who is Jewish, met with Netanyahu, Israeli officials and family members of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, during a trip to the Jewish state.
“Our objectives are clear: The U.S. must stand by Israel to get all the hostages home, including Americans, eliminate the terrorists, & provide much-needed humanitarian aid to innocent Palestinian civilians being used by Hamas as human shields,” Gottheimer wrote in a post on X.
The New Jersey Democrat fired back at Tlaib on Friday, releasing a statement codeming anyone who still refuses to unequivocally condemn Hamas terrorists.
“More than eighty days ago, on October 7, Hamas terrorists brutally massacred more than forty Americans and beheaded, burned alive, and raped countless others. Six Americans are still held hostage,” Gottheimer said.
“We will never, ever forget anyone who has refused, even to this day, to unequivocally condemn Hamas and their extensive war crimes,” he added.
The congressman noted that since the Oct. 7 attack, “Iranian proxies, including the Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah, have continually fired rockets at Israel” and “Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria have regularly targeted American troops.”
He also thanked President Biden and “everyone who has stood strong in the fight against terror and extremism.”
Gottheimer was among 22 House Democrats who voted with Republicans to censure Tlaib last month over her alleged defense of the Hamas terrorist group and calling for the destruction of Israel.
Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, has been one of the most outspoken lawmakers against the Israeli government since her election to the House of Representatives in 2018.
Her criticism of Netanyahu and Israel only ramped up after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that left more than 1,200 people dead and saw hundreds kidnapped by terrorists.
Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes and ground attacks against Hamas have resulted in the deaths of some 21,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
Tlaib wasn’t the only politician to liken Netanyahu to a madman on Wednesday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan compared the Israeli leader to Adolf Hitler during an awards ceremony in Ankara, likening the country’s combat offensive in Gaza to Nazi Germany’s methodical killing of the Jewish people.
“They used to speak ill of Hitler. What difference do you have from Hitler? They are going to make us miss Hitler. Is what this Netanyahu is doing any less than what Hitler did? It is not,” Erdogan said.
“He is richer than Hitler, he gets the support from the West,” the Turkish leader added. “All sorts of support comes from the United States. And what did they do with all this support? They killed more than 20,000 Gazans.”
