WASHINGTON – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to attend apply jointly meeting Congress for the first time on Wednesday afternoon Hamas terrorist attack against Israel It killed 1,200 people and resulted in hostages being taken to Gaza, with around 100 still believed to be held captive.
Netanyahu’s speech at 2:00 PM ET comes at a critical time: The United States is in the middle of an era chaotic election yearand the Biden administration continues to push negotiators towards a ceasefire agreement According to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, this could end the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 30,000 people.
“In my speech, I will emphasize the importance of bipartisan support for Israel, I will appeal to our friends on both sides of the map, and I will tell them that regardless of who leads the American people after the presidential election, Israel is the most important ally of the United States in the Middle East, an indispensable ally,” Netanyahu told the United States. he said before leaving.
He added: “I think it is very important in this time of war and uncertainty that our enemies know that the United States and Israel stand together today, tomorrow and forever.”
Netanyahu first spoke to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. was invited to address Congress this spring amid protests and encampments on college campuses.
As president of the Senate, Vice President Kamala Harris, who would normally preside over such an event, will not participate. Several other prominent Democrats will not. Instead, Orthodox Jew and Foreign Relations Committee Chairman D-Md. Senator Ben Cardin will speak.
Harris, who launched his presidential campaign in the wake of President Joe Biden’s exit from the race, is scheduled to be in Indianapolis on Wednesday.
Johnson said on Tuesday that it was “not excusable” that Harris missed Netanyahu’s speech and that he should be “accounted for”.
Harris and Biden are expected to meet separately with Netanyahu during his visit to Washington this week. Biden and Netanyahu are expected to meet at the White House on Thursday with relatives of American hostages still being held in Gaza, a source familiar with the matter said. On Friday morning, Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with former President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
While Netanyahu is likely to receive a warm welcome from Republican lawmakers, some will be warmer from Democrats, who have said they plan to boycott his speech.
More than two dozen Democrats in the House and Senate have said they plan to pass it, including Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois and Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the “caucus,” are also avoiding the speech, as are several Jewish members of Congress, including Sen. Bernie Sanders. , I-V. and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. Those choosing to boycott are outraged by Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there.
“The October 7 attack by Hamas was unprovoked and cowardly, and its hostage-taking was unconscionable,” Durbin said. strategy. …I will stand by Israel, but I will not support its current Prime Minister in tomorrow’s Joint Session.”
Notably, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the Senate president pro tempore, and another candidate to oversee the joint session of Congress are not running. “Securing a lasting, mutually beneficial ceasefire is critical at this time, and I will continue to work to achieve this as soon as possible,” Murray said in a statement. I hope Prime Minister Netanyahu will seize the opportunity. he plans how to ensure a cease-fire and lasting peace in the region.
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., also absent, said Tuesday that she does not think Netanyahu is interested in peace in the Middle East.
“He is definitely not interested in bringing hostage families home,” Jayapal said. “I think he can shill for Donald Trump, but you know it comes at the cost of Israeli security, Palestinian security, and more broadly, peace. The Middle East, and certainly at the cost of bringing home the families of the hostages there, including the eight American hostages still remaining.”
Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., the first Generation Z member of Congress, will also boycott the speech. “I hate it [Netanyahu’s] leadership. “I think what’s happening in Gaza is terrible,” Frost said Tuesday. I think he should not have invited him in the first place.”
The top two lawmakers in each party — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.; and Johnson – all attending a meeting with Netanyahu before his speech.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., an ardent supporter of Israel who attended, said he wanted to hear from Netanyahu how he planned to bring the hostages home and what he would do about Iran.
Netanyahu last addressed Congress in March 2015, and the address, his fourth as prime minister, is expected to draw “a large number of demonstrators,” US Congressional Police said, adding that they had stepped up security ahead of the protests. The same fence around the Capitol used after the January 6, 2021 attack. The department also swore in more than 200 New York police officers this week to assist with policing events in Washington, D.C., Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said. shared a video From X’s inauguration.
More than 200 Jewish Voices of Peace on the eve of release protesters were arrested After they demonstrated and chanted pro-Palestinian slogans in one of the House office buildings on Tuesday, Capitol police said.
More than two dozen former senior officials of Israel’s security agencies, such as the Mossad and Shin Bet, and Israeli companies also spoke out against Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. In a letter to congressional leaders obtained by NBC News on Tuesday, they expressed “serious concerns” about the “damage” Netanyahu’s visit would do to shared US-Israeli goals. The letter’s signatories include former Mossad director Tamir Pardo, former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Dan Halutz, among others, some of whom served under Netanyahu.
The Biden administration continues to work behind the scenes to broker a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared expresses a certain optimism late last week, when he said negotiators were “moving toward the finish line.”