Friends of Israel? Hickenlooper and Neguse silent on Hamas terrorist assault

Two Colorado Democrats typically identified by the pro-Israel community as friendly politicians have remained conspicuously silent amid the burgeoning conflict in Israel.

U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse and U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper have not uttered a word about the situation since the terrorist organization Hamas jettisoned a barrage of rockets from Gaza towards Jerusalem several days ago, bringing the region closer to full scale war.

Both Neguse and Hickenlooper have previously been friendly with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), while Hickenlooper even condemned Hamas rocket attacks when he was running for president.

Now that Hickenlooper is in the Senate, it appears he could not care less about the security of our nation’s closest ally.

Neguse and Hickenlooper’s hesitation to weigh in is likely attributable to the Democrat Party’s sharp divisions on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Case and point: Hickenlooper recently found time to wish Colorado’s Muslim community a happy Eid.

Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar on the other hand tweeted it was “unconscionable” not to condemn Israel’s self-defense measures the week of Eid.

It appears rather than upset his socialist anti-Israel base, Hickenlooper is opting for cowardly silence.

Neguse and Hickenlooper’s silence is all the more noteworthy considering U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet found time to address the situation on Twitter.

Bennet is up for reelection next year. Go figure.

Making matters even more uncomfortable for Democrats, an official online propaganda outlet for the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood praised Neguse’s friend Omar and other liberals for abandoning Israel in the face of Hamas’s terrorist assault.

“Democratic representatives demand the protection of Palestinians from Zionist attacks,” reads a headline in Ikhwan Online, the Brotherhood’s official propaganda site. The jihadist extremist group, which is designated as a terror outfit in multiple countries, highlighted critical remarks about Israel’s defensive operations made by outspoken opponents of the Jewish state—Reps. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), Andre Carson (D., Ind.), Debbie Dingell (D., Mich.), Mark Pocan (D., Wis.), and Cori Bush (D., Mo.), as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.).

 

“A large number from the American Democratic Party urged their government to try stopping the violence of the occupation forces against the Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank,” the Arabic language article states, highlighting the support these liberal American lawmakers have among anti-Israel extremist groups in the region.

Neguse, for his part, famously bashed the Israeli government for barring Omar from entering the country two years ago.

Whatever their political calculations are, Neguse and Hickenlooper’s silence while our nation’s closest ally finds itself on the brink of war speaks volumes.