(Al-Monitor) It’s no secret that Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., has had an acrimonious relationship with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The freshman lawmaker has quickly become a lightning rod of criticism for AIPAC and its supporters, who have gone so far as to accuse Omar of using anti-Semitic tropes to describe the group’s lobbying activities.
That hasn’t stopped her from signing onto a key AIPAC lobby item for this year. Omar’s signature in particular stands out among the 391 House members who have jumped onboard an AIPAC-backed letter bolstering the Donald Trump administration’s efforts to extend the United Nations arms embargo on Iran, which expires in October as the first sunset provision under the nuclear deal.
The letter, spearheaded by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and top Republican Mike McCaul, R-Texas, calls on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to “extend these provisions in order to prevent Iran from buying and selling weapons.”
