Rep. Steve King of Iowa said he doesn’t understand how American Jews can be “Democrats first and Jewish second” and support President Obama’s approach to Israel.

“Well, there were some 50 or so Democrats that decided they would boycott the president’s speech. One thing that’s happened is — just look at the polling, that means — here is what thing that I don’t understand, I don’t understand how Jews in America can be Democrats first and Jewish second and support Israel along the line of just following their president,” said the Iowa Republican on Boston Herald radio Friday, asked about members of Congress who did not attend Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress earlier in the month.

“And it’s all — it says this, they’re knee-jerk supporters for the president’s policy. The president’s policies throughout the Middle East have been a disaster. I would say to them, name a country where we have better relations today than we had when Barack Obama took office?’ And I gave that in speeches in about six weeks until some lad stood up and said, ‘I can name you two, they are Cuba and Iran.’”

Asked if anti-Semitism was a factor, he said it was a component along with “just plain liberalism.”

“I see it growing. I’m amazed to see this happen. It’s a phenomenon that I did not expect to see in post-World War II, the revulsion of what I saw. But anti-Semitism is a component of this and just plain liberalism is another component. I mean the president wants the world to be, he thinks somehow he can force the world can be the world he myopically believes it is. You have to be a realist.”