WASHINGTON, July 16 (Reuters) - Representative Pramila Jayapal, who heads a large group of progressive Democrats in the U.S. Congress, on Sunday apologized for calling Israel a racist state as Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives pushed back against her initial declaration. "I do not believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist," Jayapal said in a statement. "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 added....