Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington is apologizing for calling Israel a “racist state,” saying she was trying to defuse a tense situation involving pro-Palestine protesters at a conference.

Ms. Jayapal’s words caused a headache for Democratic leadership ahead of a Capitol Hill visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday.

“Words do matter and so it is important that I clarify my statement,” Ms. Jayapal, a prominent progressive, said late Sunday. “I do not believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist.”

“I do, however, believe that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing government has engaged in discriminatory and outright racist policies and that there are extreme racists driving that policy within the leadership of the current government,” she said.

Ms. Jayapal was attempting to clarify comments she had made Saturday in an attempt to calm pro-Palestine protesters.

“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,” she said at the event.

The comments put her party’s leadership in a tough spot. Senior Democrats frequently must balance longstanding U.S. support for Israel with sympathies for Palestinians that are prominent in the party’s progressive wing.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other Democratic leaders tried to separate themselves from the incident by releasing a statement saying Israel is not a racist state.

“As House Democratic leaders, we strongly support Israel’s right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people,” the leaders said.

• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.