Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right Georgia Republican who has previously advocated against U.S. funding to Israel and been accused of antisemitism, appeared to be the first Republican in Congress to call Israel’s war in Gaza a “genocide.”
“It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct. 7 in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza,” Greene said in a post on X Monday evening.
Greene’s use of the word “genocide” comes as Israel has faced global condemnation in recent weeks over allegations of widespread starvation in Gaza. Greene’s comments about “genocide” came after President Donald Trump’s statement Monday that he believed that there was “real starvation” in Gaza, suggesting some unease with the war in a party that is loath to criticize Israel.
Greene’s statements came as part of a barrage of criticism aimed at fellow Rep. Randy Fine, a Jewish Florida Republican and one of Israel’s staunchest supporters in the House, over his recent comments on social media about the conflict.
“There is no starvation. Everything about the ‘Palestinian’ cause is a lie,” Fine wrote in a post on X Sunday. Last week, Fine also posted, “release the hostages. Until then, starve away.”
Greene posted that a “Jewish U.S. Representative calling for the continued starvation of innocent people and children is disgraceful,” and argued that his statement will “actually cause more antisemitism.”
Jewish groups, including the American Jewish Committee, also criticized Fine’s remarks, putting them in a position of rare agreement with Greene, who has advanced a range of dangerous conspiracy theories, including one that the Rothschild family was involved in starting California wildfires using lasers from space.
And yet the largest of the Jewish groups, like Israel, are adamant that the war in Gaza does not meet the legal definition of genocide, and that such comparisons are meant to denigrate and delegitimize Israel.
Greene joins a chorus of groups and individuals who are using the term, including Amnesty International, the International Court of Justice and, on Monday, two Israeli human rights groups — B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights — who became the first Israel-based NGOs to level the charge.
During a press conference in Jersualem, the rights groups published two reports that concluded that Israel was committing a genocide in Gaza as defined by international law, saying that Israel was carrying out a “coordinated, deliberate action to destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza strip.”
If Greene’s comments reflect a growing split among Republican lawmakers, it is not reflected in the grass roots: A recent Gallup poll found that the proportion of Republicans who approve of Israel’s actions in Gaza, 71%, is at the same level today as it was the month after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
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