Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said he plans to skip a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday. Appeal to Congress later this month described the speech as a “one-sided lecture”.
“I’m not going to participate,” Khanna said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” adding, “I said if he wants to talk to members of Congress about how to end the war and release the hostages, I’m fine with it, but I’m not going to give a one-sided lecture. I’m not going to read it.”
Khanna joins Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in planning to boycott the Israeli leader’s speech.
Sanders earlier this month hailed Netanyahu as a “war criminal” and questioned why congressional leaders invited him to speak in the first place.
“Yes [Speaker Mike] Johnson will have to explain to the American people that he is responsible for the deaths of approximately 38,000 Palestinians at this point, 60% of them women and children, the elderly, Sanders told NBC News earlier this month.
Khanna and Sanders’ decision shows the anger of many progressive democrats Against Netanyahu, whom they see as an obstacle to ending the war in Gaza and whom they blame for the war humanitarian crisis among civilian Palestinians in the region.
Still, on Sunday, Khanna said any MPs skipping the speech should “be polite” about their decision.
He added: “We’re not going to make a big deal about it. It’s obviously going to Congress and there’s got to be some decorum.”