Ilhan Omar
Ilhan OmarReuters

Rep. Max Rose, a Jewish New York Democrat apologized to his Jewish constituents for Rep. Ilhan Omar’s anti-Semitic comments at a town hall in Staten Island on Tuesday, organized by the Council of Jewish Organizations of Staten Island.

“As a young congressman, I’ve got to tell you I’m sorry,” Rose told the crowd. “You sent me to Congress to take responsibility. You sent me to Congress to have your back. “And I failed you. Because I know that Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s comments really caused you all a lot of pain by bringing up anti-Semitic tropes.”

However, Rose did not advocate for Omar to concede her position on the House Foreign Affairs Committee which GOP leaders have been pushing for.

“We have got to show her that there is a pathway for her to do the right thing, and we have to be vigilant towards that," Rose said. "Believe me, she understands that that’s a possibility, and nobody is taking that off the table, but we are not there yet."

Omar (D-Minn.) has made several comments about US-Israel policy that many consider anti-Semitic such as her statement that pro-Israel groups “push for allegiance to a foreign country."

“I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country,” Omar said at at a Washington forum last month. “I want to ask, why is it okay for me to talk about the influence of the [National Rifle Association], of fossil-fuel industries, or Big Pharma, and not talk about a powerful lobby that is influencing policy?”

Rose was the first Democratic congressman to condemn Omar for her comments at the time. “Congresswoman Omar’s statements are deeply hurtful to Jews, including myself,” Rose wrote on Twitter.

“Implying that Americans support Israel because of money alone is offensive enough. But to go a step further, and retweet someone declaring their pain at her sentiment is simply unacceptable.”

Rose was referring to Omar's retweet of a comment from someone else saying “she might as well call us hook-nosed” before removing it.