California Rep. Ro Khanna grew to become the most recent Democratic lawmaker to announce his refusal to attend a extremely anticipated speech earlier than Congress by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, citing the chief’s position in persevering with the devastating U.S.-funded navy offensive in Gaza whereas rejecting efforts to prioritize a cease-fire deal.
Final month, a bipartisan group of prime lawmakers invited Netanyahu to ship an handle to a joint session of Congress on July 24 in an effort to focus on the unwavering help the U.S. authorities has for Israel, which for greater than eight months has rained bombs on the Palestinian enclave in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault that killed about 1,200 folks and kidnapped roughly 250, half of whom have been launched throughout a brief cease-fire final yr.
Israel’s navy offensive has since killed greater than 37,000 Palestinians — principally girls and youngsters — displaced the vast majority of the inhabitants of two.3 million, kidnapped and tortured Palestinian males and boys, destroyed hospitals and water and sewage infrastructure, and created a hunger disaster by blocking humanitarian support from reaching civilians.
A number of international locations, human rights teams and worldwide companies have since accused Israel of committing genocide in opposition to Palestinians, an allegation the Israeli authorities and the U.S. deny. The Worldwide Legal Courtroom lately accused Netanyahu, his protection minister and three Hamas leaders of battle crimes pertaining to the battle.
The continued devastation by Netanyahu’s far-right authorities continues to create a deep division amongst U.S. lawmakers, a lot of whom consider inviting the Israeli chief to talk earlier than Congress is inappropriate.
“I will not attend. I said that if he wants to come to speak to members of Congress about how to end the war and release hostages, I would be fine doing that,” Khanna, who serves on the Home Armed Companies Committee, advised NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “But I’m not going to sit in a one-way lecture.”
Khanna’s feedback comply with these of South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, a prime Democrat and co-chair of Biden’s reelection marketing campaign, who additionally mentioned he plans to boycott Netanyahu’s speech. Clyburn alsso didn’t sit in on the Israeli chief’s speech when he was final on the Capitol.
“I’m going to treat him the same way he treated [former President] Barack Obama,” Clyburn said of Netanyahu earlier this month on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday.”
The lawmaker was referring to when Netanyahu was invited by Republicans to talk to Congress in 2015 — close to the top of Obama’s second time period — to sentence the Democratic president’s effort to strike a nuclear cope with Iran, in addition to his help for Palestinian statehood, an concept the Israeli chief continues to oppose as we speak.
“I agree with Rep. Clyburn. I mean, how [Netanyahu] treated President Obama, he should not expect reciprocity,” Khanna said Sunday. “That said, I think it should be polite, and we’re not going to make a big deal about it. He’s obviously addressing the Congress, and there has to be decorum.”
Lawmakers like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who for months has been vocal in his opposition to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, have been extra direct of their resolution to boycott Netanyahu’s speech.
“I think I speak not just for myself, but for a number of other senators who think that that decision is a very, very bad one,” Sanders advised NBC’s Chris Hayes earlier this month. “You do not honor a foreign leader by addressing a joint session of Congress who is currently engaged in the worst humanitarian disaster in the modern history of this country.”
“What we are seeing now is starvation and famine impacting thousands and thousands of children,” he continued. “The architect of that policy is not somebody you honor by bringing to the United States Congress.”
Samuel Corum via Getty Images
Among the many prime lawmakers to ask Netanyahu was Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer, the nation’s highest-ranking Jewish elected official and a Democrat who, in March, mentioned the Israeli chief had “lost his way.” Schumer later mentioned that whereas he vehemently disagrees with Netanyahu, he invited the chief to Congress as a result of “America’s relationship with Israel is ironclad.”
Offering Netanyahu a platform in Congress “undermines the cease-fire deal that President Biden is trying to get Israeli leadership to accept,” mentioned Lily Greenberg Name, in response to IfNotNow, a Jewish American group in opposition to Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip.
Greenberg Name, the primary Jewish American political appointee of the Biden administration to resign over the U.S.’s Gaza coverage, made the remarks whereas protesting with fellow Jewish Individuals at Schumer’s workplace final week over Netanyahu’s upcoming speech. The demonstration was organized by IfNotNow.
“Sen. Schumer, you need to listen to your voters, the American people, to the majority of American Jews who want Biden to stop sending weapons to Israel, and to the hostage families who are urging Jewish leaders to pressure Israel to accept the deal,” Greenberg Call continued. “What values are leading you to invite a war criminal like Netanyahu here, senator? They can’t be the same Jewish values I learned. … Think hard about your legacy — it’s up to you to decide.”
