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Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has added her name to the growing list of lawmakers who plan to skip Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming joint address to the House and Senate.
Several Democrats denounced the invitation after it was extended by congressional leaders of both parties in May. Now, Netanyahu’s recent broadside against the Biden administration, which has faced domestic protests over its support for Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, could cause more Democrats to skip the event. The Biden administration has spent the week disputing Netanyahu’s claim that it has been withholding weapons and ammunition shipments meant for Israel.
On Tuesday, Warren told The Hill that Netanyahu has “created a humanitarian disaster” and that she won’t attend. She joins fellow Sen. Bernie Sanders and California Rep. Ro Khanna, who said on “Meet the Press” over the weekend he’d welcome a conversation with Netanyahu about ending the war but won’t attend the speech because he’s “not going to sit in a one-way lecture.” Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., also said he won’t attend, citing Netanyahu’s controversial joint address in 2015, which was meant to scuttle U.S. peace negotiations with Iran and was widely viewed as a slight against then-President Barack Obama.
“I’m going to treat him the same way he treated Barack Obama,” Clyburn said on NewsNation last week, before adding that he’s working with other lawmakers on possible alternative counterprogramming for people to attend instead of Netanyahu’s speech. Axios reports that several other Democrats involved in the talks, which are still in their early stages, may be looking to disrupt the speech as well.
Netanyahu’s video suggests that he’s indifferent to the political risks the Biden administration has taken to support Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas. It’s given Democrats yet another reason to skip the speech, which also include the International Criminal Court’s warrant for his arrest (the U.S. is not a signatory to that court, and the House voted to sanction the ICC earlier this month); his effort to constrain Israel’s independent judiciary; the fact that the families of hostages say that they were told Netanyahu won’t negotiate for their loved ones’ release unless he thinks it’s “politically good for him” (as NBC News reported); and because Biden himself has suggested there’s “every reason” to conclude the Israeli leader is prolonging the war for personal gain.
By attending Netanyahu’s speech, Democrats lend Netanyahu a credibility he desperately needs — at a time when he seems wholly undeserving of it.