House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) said that she was not accusing the Israeli government of committing genocide in Gaza, despite saying at an event last week there was “genocide and destruction” in the war-torn strip.
“Last week, while attending an event in my district, I repeated the word ‘genocide’ in response to a question. I want to be clear that I am not accusing Israel of genocide, ” she said in the statement to POLITICO on Tuesday. “We all need to work with urgency to bring the remaining hostages home, surge aid to Palestinians and oppose their involuntary relocation, remove Hamas from power, and end the war.”
Clark’s statement was first reported by the Jewish News Syndicate.
Clark made her comments at an event hosted by a Quaker organization in her district last week, POLITICO previously reported. At the event, she called on those in the audience to “take action in time to make a difference … whether that is stopping the starvation and genocide and destruction of Gaza” or other major political issues.
A spokesperson at the time did not walk back the characterization but also said that her position on the fighting in the region hadn’t changed.
Though Democrats across the country have been critical of Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza, very few have called it a genocide. Clark is the second-highest ranking Democrat in the House and would have been one of the most senior members of the party to take that stance.
The war in Gaza has roiled the Democratic Party, as politicians and potential 2028 candidates grapple with how to talk about the war and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.