In a fiery speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) slammed Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) over the latter’s opposition to U.S. funding for Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system.

The Iron Dome has been crucial in saving countless Israeli lives from rockets fired by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah from Gaza and Lebanon into Israel.

“I cannot, I cannot allow one of my colleagues to stand on the floor of the House of Representative and label the Jewish democratic State of Israel an apartheid state. I reject it,” said Deutch passionately. “Today, this caucus, this body, the House of Representatives will overwhelmingly stand with our ally the State of Israel in replenishing this defensive system.”

He continued, “If you believe in human rights, if you believe in saving lives, Israeli lives and Palestinian lives, I say to my colleague who just besmirched our ally, then you will support this legislation.”

Deutch’s time was up, so the congressman requested 15 additional seconds. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) yielded him 30 additional seconds.

“We can have an opportunity to debate lots of issues on the House floor. But to falsely characterize those as consistent with those, let’s be clear here, it’s consistent with those that advocate for the dismantling of the one Jewish state in the world,” he said. “And when there is no place on the map for one Jewish state, that’s anti-Semitism. And I reject that.”

Deutch received applause in the chamber following his remarks.

Moments earlier, Tlaib accused Israel of “war crimes, human rights abuses and violence” and a “violent apartheid system.” Tlaib has been accused of anti-Semitic behavior since being in Congress in January 2019.

The House proceeded to pass the bill to fund the Iron Dome by more than the necessary two-thirds majority for passage. It now heads to the Senate.

Watch above, via CSPAN.

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