In the latest instance of Republicans accusing Democrats who denounce Israel of antisemitism, Congresswoman Pramilla Jayapal has walked back a comment she made calling Israel a “racist state.” The brouhaha over her comment comes as she and four other of the most liberal Democrats say they will boycott a speech by Israel’s politically moderate president, Isaac Herzog, before Congress on Wednesday.   

The contretemps with Ms. Jayapal also comes as President Biden on Monday invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to Washington in a gesture seen as an olive branch after months of tensions between the Democratic American president and Israel’s conservative leader.

The Israeli presidency, currently held by Mr. Herzog, is a largely ceremonial post, and his visit was supposed to be noncontroversial, unlike any visit from Mr. Netanyahu, who presides over the most conservative government since Israel’s founding. By contrast to Mr. Netanyahu, Mr. Herzog is a political moderate and a member of the left-leaning Labor party, which is now in the minority.

Yet only days ahead of Mr. Herzog’s speech, Ms. Jayapal, the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and an ally, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also a member of her so-called Squad, was called to account for an attack on Israel her critics called antisemitic.

“I want you to know that we have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state, that the Palestinian people deserve self-determination and autonomy, that the dream of a two-state solution is slipping away from us, that it does not even feel possible,” Ms. Jayapal told protesters at Chicago on Saturday.  

House Democratic leadership issued a statement in response to Ms. Jayapal’s comments, saying, “Israel is not a racist state.” She later walked back her statement, saying, “I do not believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist,” adding, “I do, however, believe that Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing government has engaged in discriminatory and outright racist policies.”

On Monday, Mr. Biden also invited Mr. Netanyahu to visit America during a phone call between the two leaders. It will be Mr. Netanyahu’s first visit to Washington since he assumed office once again in December.

Although a date for Mr. Netanyahu’s visit is not yet set, the move represents a step from Mr. Biden to ease tensions between America and Israel. Mr. Netanyahu’s office described Monday’s call as “warm and long.” 

Currently, four liberal Democratic “Squad” members, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Jamaal Bowman, and Cori Bush, have confirmed that they will be boycotting Mr. Herzog’s speech on July 19.

Ms. Omar explained her boycott of Mr. Herzog’s speech, saying, “There is no way in hell I am attending the joint session address from a President whose country has banned me and denied Rashida Tlaib the ability to see her grandma.”

Ms. Tlaib, a Palestinian-American member of Congress, has, along with Ms. Omar, been banned since 2019 from visiting Israel or its territories.

Ms. Omar continued by saying that Mr. Herzog’s address “comes on behalf of the most right wing government in Israel’s history, at a time when the government is openly promising to ‘crush’ Palestinian hopes of statehood — essentially putting a nail in the coffin of peace and a two-state solution.”  

In response, Republicans, like Vice President Pence, are claiming that the boycott is motivated by antisemitism, with Mr. Pence saying of Ms. Omar, “Your defense of terrorists and attacks on the Jewish state are sickening.”

Another Republican presidential candidate and the former ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said that Ms. Omar and other members of the Democratic Party “meet with radical pro-terrorist activists and support Palestinian terrorist groups.”

“The IDF killed 12 armed terrorists and zero civilians — saving countless Palestinian and Israeli lives,” Ms. Haley said of Israel’s recent incursion into Jenin at the West Bank in an operation Israel says was aimed at rooting out terrorists. “If Democrat leadership had any principles, they would call out Ilhan Omar for her lies.”

One Democrat, Congressman Josh Gottheimer, who is Jewish, called the boycott a “political stunt.” The House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, said that “individual members make individual decisions, but I can tell you that I expect an incredibly robust turnout and participation among House Democrats on Wednesday.”