US representative calls Israeli PM Netanyahu "genocidal maniac"

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., is calling out her colleagues in the U.S. Congress who have sat down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the ongoing war between his country and the terror group Hamas.

She called the conservative leader a "genocidal maniac" in a post on her Instagram Story on December 27, Fox News reports.

"Every member of Congress who sits down with this murderer is supporting a war criminal," Tlaib wrote. "We will never ever forget."

That would include fellow Democrats who met with Netanyahu since the war began, as the issue continues to fracture the left.

Hardline leftist Tlaib, who is also the only Palestinian American in Congress, has been among the loudest critics of the Israeli government during her tenure on Capitol Hill.

That criticism reached new highs in the wake of the Oct. 7 surprise attack by Hamas terrorists in southern Israel. More than 1,200 people – mostly civilians, including young children and the elderly – were killed, and Hamas still holds dozens captive in Gaza. 

Israel has responded with both a ground invasion and a blanket of rocket fire and airstrikes on Gaza. The Hamas-run health ministry has claimed nearly 21,000 Palestinians have been killed so far. 

"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."

The accompanying video supposedly depicted a dead Palestinian infant.

Her comments come roughly a week after Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., a more moderate member of her party, returned from Israel. There, he said he met with Netanyahu as well as other Israeli officials and the families of people who remain in Hamas captivity.

"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 said on X.

Gottheimer was one of 22 House Democrats who joined Republicans in a vote to censure Tlaib over her comments about Israel in November.

Similar to Tlaib's comments, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan compared Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler but said the Israeli leader was "richer" because of U.S. support.

Netanyahu shot back in a statement, "Erdogan, who commits genocide against the Kurds, who holds a world record for imprisoning journalists who oppose his rule, is the last person who can preach morality to us."