WASHINGTON — When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Congress on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris received’t be there. Neither will Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the Senate professional tem, who’s third in line to the presidency.
The primary cause Netanyahu is visiting the U.S. this week is to provide this speech, which he was invited to ship by Home Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). However up to now, a minimum of 21 Democratic lawmakers plan to boycott his remarks in protest of the conservative Israeli chief’s army marketing campaign in Gaza.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has created a humanitarian catastrophe,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) advised CNN final month. “I’m not going.”
“No, Netanyahu should not be welcomed into the U.S. Congress,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) stated Monday on social media. “On the contrary, his policies in Gaza and the West Bank and his refusal to support a two-state solution should be roundly condemned.”
“As I stated last month, I will not be attending his address,” Sanders added.
Since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, Israel’s air and floor assault has killed greater than 38,000 individuals in Gaza, most of whom are civilians, Palestinian well being authorities reported this month. Netanyahu, in the meantime, has rebuffed repeated requires a ceasefire.
Democrats have been urgent President Joe Biden to reevaluate U.S. assist for Israel because the humanitarian disaster drags on in Gaza, the place greater than 2.3 million individuals have been pushed from their houses. In current months, the president has been extra vital of Netanyahu, and in Might, the administration paused the cargo of some weapons. However Netanyahu has brushed apart calls from Biden administration officers to vary course.
When Netanyahu speaks within the Home chamber on Thursday, the vp would usually be sitting behind him on the dais. However Harris might be in Indianapolis at a marketing campaign occasion. Her occasion was scheduled earlier than she was out of the blue vaulted this week into being the probably Democratic presidential nominee, however the timing is very handy.
Harris will reportedly meet individually with Netanyahu on the White Home this week.
Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), who’s Donald Trump’s vice presidential choose, reportedly received’t be at Netanyahu’s tackle, both. He’ll be tied up with marketing campaign actions, too.
However just about everybody else skipping the Israeli chief’s tackle is doing it to ship the message that they reject his army marketing campaign in Gaza, the humanitarian disaster he’s brought about there, and the way he’s broken U.S.-Israel relations within the course of.
It’s not simply progressive firebrands planning to boycott. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a member of the Senate Overseas Relations Committee, simply returned from a visit to Israel the place he met with the households of hostages and those that misplaced family members on Oct. 7.
In a fiery speech on the Senate flooring on Tuesday, Van Hollen ran by way of many the reason why he’ll be skipping Netanyahu’s tackle. One cause is that the Israeli households he simply met advised him that they haven’t heard from Netanyahu or any member of his authorities within the months because the Hamas assault.
“I say to Prime Minister Netanyahu: Before you come to speak to members of Congress, go meet with the families I saw whose loved ones were murdered on Oct. 7,” fumed the Maryland senator.
Tom Williams by way of Getty Photographs
Van Hollen stated he additionally heard from these households the identical factor he’s seen mirrored in polling: that enormous swaths of Israelis need Netanyahu to resign, and that they see his invitation to talk to Congress as a political stunt “to escape legal and political accountability” for his Oct. 7 failures.
Netanyahu is determined to stay atop his “ultra-right extremist coalition” that he personally staffed with “racist, religious bigots,” charged the Democratic senator. “It sends a terrible message” to deliver him to the USA proper now.
Earlier Tuesday, greater than 30 present and former Israeli senior executives and Israeli safety officers advised congressional leaders that they had “grave concerns” about Netanyahu’s go to to the U.S. They equally warned that his journey is political, as he has “lost the support of the Israeli people” and is presently dealing with a felony trial for fraud and bribery.
“Congress will be hosting a leader without a mandate and one who is facing prosecution for major crimes,” they wrote to Hill leaders. “We cannot overstate this: Prime Minister Netanyahu poses an existential threat to the State of Israel.”
Right here’s a working checklist of all of the lawmakers who’ve explicitly stated they’re boycotting Netanyahu’s tackle to Congress, drawn from varied public statements:
1. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)
2. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
3. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
4. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)
5. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)
6. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)
7. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.)
8. Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas)
9. Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.)
10. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas)
11. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus
12. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.)
13. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.)
14. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Unwell.)
15. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.)
16. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.)
17. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.)
18. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.)
19. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.)
20. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.)
21. Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Unwell.)
