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Keith Ellison Allegedly Said U.S. Foreign Policy Is ‘Governed’ by Israel

A tape obtained by the Investigative Project on Terrorism purports to show the Congressman speaking at a private fundraiser: ‘A region of 350 million all turns on a country of 7 million. Does that make sense?’

by
Jonathan Zalman
November 30, 2016
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) holds a news conference about what he calls 'the rhetoric attacking Muslims and the Islamophobia' in the 2016 presidential election at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., May 24, 2016. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) holds a news conference about what he calls 'the rhetoric attacking Muslims and the Islamophobia' in the 2016 presidential election at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., May 24, 2016. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

On Tuesday the Investigative Project on Terrorism published a troubling tape it alleges is U.S. Representative Keith Ellison “lash[ing] out at what he sees as Israel’s disproportionate influence in American foreign policy.” Ellison, who is the first Muslim Congressman and is currently up for chair of the Democratic National Committee, apparently said the following at a 2010 fundraiser:

The United States foreign policy in the Middle East is governed by what is good or bad through a country of 7 million people. A region of 350 million all turns on a country of 7 million. Does that make sense? Is that logic? Right? When the Americans who trace their roots back to those 350 million get involved, everything changes. Can I say that again?

Last week, Tablet published a scathing profile of Ellison written by a former politico with insight of Ellison’s past affiliations, that detailed the Congressman’s support for BDS (which he later denied) and Louis Farrakhan, whom he has defended.

Jonathan Zalman is a writer and teacher based in Brooklyn.