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US Rep. Ilhan Omar Cruises to Victory in Primary Race, Ending Anti-Israel ‘Squad’ Losing Streak
US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) participates in a news conference, outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, April 10, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Jim Bourg
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), one of the most strident anti-Israel lawmakers in the US Congress, defeated Don Samuels on Tuesday night in the Democratic primary for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District.
Omar notched a decisive victory over Samuels, winning the race by roughly 13 percentage points. She received 56.2 percent of the vote compared to Samuels’ 42.9 percent.
“I am incredibly honored by this victory tonight,” Omar said to her supporters at a Minneapolis restaurant on Tuesday night. “I am honored to represent the people who welcomed me and my family as refugees to this incredible state.”
The congresswoman expanded on the margins of her 2022 reelection bid, in which she defeated Samuels by a narrow 2.1 percentage points.
Omar will represent the Democratic Party in the general election, where she will face off against Republican nominee Dalia Al-Aqidi — a pro-Israel, Iraq-born journalist, in November. Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, which comprises Minneapolis and local suburbs, has consistently supported Democrats in the past, and Omar is expected to easily defeat her opponent.
Omar’s victory breaks a losing streak this election cycle for members of the so-called “Squad” — a cohort of progressive, anti-Israel members of the US House of Representatives. Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) both lost their Democratic primary races to pro-Israel opponents in June and July, respectively.
Notably, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) did not heavily invest financial resources in Tuesday’s election. AIPAC, a major pro-Israel lobbying group, helped oust both Bowman and Bush by financially supporting their opponents. The group spent a staggering $14.5 million and $9 million to defeat Bowman and Bush, respectively.
In the months following Hamas’ slaughter of roughly 1,200 people throughout southern Israel on Oct. 7, the left-wing lawmakers have adopted a more adversarial posture toward the Jewish state. The Democratic electorate has simultaneously grown increasingly less supportive of Israel, according to recent polling.
Both advocates and critics of the Jewish state watched Omar’s race closely, considering it a potential indicator of whether anti-Israel views are still an electoral liability within the Democratic Party.
Since being elected to Congress in 2018, Omar has emerged as a harsh critic of Israel. She has accused the Jewish state of committing “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza and erecting an “apartheid” government in the West Bank. The lawmaker has also publicly declared support for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement (BDS), an initiative which seeks to turn the Jewish state into an international pariah as a first step to its eventual destruction.
Omar was among the first members of Congress to call for a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza, arguing that the Jewish state’s military operations “indiscriminately” killed Palestinian civilians.
The post US Rep. Ilhan Omar Cruises to Victory in Primary Race, Ending Anti-Israel ‘Squad’ Losing Streak first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Readies for a Nationwide Strike on Sunday
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are calling on for a general strike to be held on Sunday in an effort to compel the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal with Hamas for the release of their loved ones and a ceasefire. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, of whom 20 are believed to be alive.
The October 7 Council and other groups representing bereaved families of hostages and soldiers who fell since the start of the war declared they were “shutting down the country to save the soldiers and the hostages.”
While many businesses said they would join the strike, Israel’s largest labor federation, the Histadrut, has declined to participate.
Some of the country’s top educational institutions, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University, declared their support for the strike.
“We, the members of the university’s leadership, deans, and department heads, hereby announce that on Sunday, each and every one of us will participate in a personal strike as a profound expression of solidarity with the hostage families,” the Hebrew University’s deal wrote to students.
The day will begin at 6:29 AM, to commemorate the start of the October 7 attack, with the first installation at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Further demonstrations are planned at dozens of traffic intersections.
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Netanyahu ‘Has Become a Problem,’Says Danish PM as She Calls for Russia-Style Sanctions Against Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become a “problem,” his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen said Saturday, adding she would try to put pressure on Israel over the Gaza war.
“Netanyahu is now a problem in himself,” Frederiksen told Danish media, adding that the Israeli government is going “too far” and lashing out at the “absolutely appalling and catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza and announced new homes in the West Bank.
“We are one of the countries that wants to increase pressure on Israel, but we have not yet obtained the support of EU members,” she said, specifying she referred to “political pressure, sanctions, whether against settlers, ministers, or even Israel as a whole.”
“We are not ruling anything out in advance. Just as with Russia, we are designing the sanctions to target where we believe they will have the greatest effect.”
The devastating war in Gaza began almost two years ago, with an incursion into Israel of thousands of Palestinian armed jihadists, who perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
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As Alaska Summit Ends With No Apparent Progress, Zelensky to Meet Trump on Monday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the press conference after the opening session of Crimea Platform conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 August 2023. The Crimea Platform – is an international consultation and coordination format initiated by Ukraine. OLEG PETRASYUK/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – After US President Donald Trump hailed the “great progress” made during a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he was set to meet Trump on Monday at the White House.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say, a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we’ve made some headway,” Trump told reporters during a joint press conference after the meeting.
Many observers noted, however, that the subsequent press conference was a relatively muted affair compared to the pomp and circumstance of the red carpet welcome, and the summit produced no tangible progress.
Trump and Putin spoke briefly, with neither taking questions, and offered general statements about an “understanding” and “progress.”
Putin, who spoke first, agreed with Trump’s long-repeated assertion that Russia never would have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had Trump been president instead of Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump said “many points were agreed to” and that “just a very few” issues were left to resolve, offering no specifics and making no reference to the ceasefire he’s been seeking.