California Rep. Ro Khanna became the youngest Democratic lawmaker to announce his refusal to attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s highly anticipated speech to Congress, in which he cited the leader’s role in perpetuating the devastating U.S.-funded military offensive in Gaza while he attempts to prioritize a ceasefire agreement.
Last month, a bipartisan group of top lawmakers invited Netanyahu to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress on July 24, in an effort to highlight the continued support the US government has for Israel, which has has rained bombs on the Palestinian territories for more than eight months. Palestinian enclave in response to the October 7 Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250. Half of them were released last year during a temporary ceasefire.
The Israeli military offensive has since killed more than 37,000 Palestinians – mostly women and children – displaced the majority of the population of 2.3 million, kidnapped and tortured Palestinian men and boys, destroyed hospitals and water and sewage infrastructure, and created a famine crisis by blocking humanitarian aid. help to reach citizens.
Multiple countries, human rights groups and international organizations have since accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians, an accusation that the Israeli government and the US deny. The International Criminal Court recently charged Netanyahu, his defense minister and three Hamas leaders with war crimes related to the war.
The continued destruction by Netanyahu’s far-right government continues to create deep divisions among US lawmakers, many of whom believe it is inappropriate to invite the Israeli leader to speak before Congress.
“I will not be there. I said if he wants to come and speak to members of Congress about how to end the war and release hostages, I would be fine with that,” Khanna, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “But I’m not going to be in a one-way lecture.”
WATCH: As Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu prepares to address a joint session of Congress, @RepRoKhanna (D-Calif.) says he “will not be attending.”
“I’m not going to sit in a one-way lecture. … How he treated President Obama, he should not expect reciprocity.” pic.twitter.com/kvgiNwJPsm
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) June 16, 2024
Khanna’s comments follow those of Jim Clyburn, a top Democrat and co-chair of Biden’s reelection campaign, who also said he plans to boycott Netanyahu’s speech. Clyburn also did not attend the Israeli leader’s speech when he was last at the Capitol.
“I’m going to treat him the same way he treats him [former President] Barack Obama,” Clyburn said about Netanyahu earlier this month on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday.”
The lawmaker was referring to the fact that Netanyahu was invited by Republicans to speak before Congress in 2015 — toward the end of Obama’s second term — to condemn the Democratic president’s efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, as well as his support for the Palestinian state. idea that the Israeli leader still opposes today.
“I agree with Rep. Clyburn. I mean, how [Netanyahu] President Obama, he should not expect reciprocity,” Khanna said on Sunday. “That said, I think it should be polite, and we’re not going to make a big deal about it. He is clearly addressing Congress, and there must be decorum.”
Lawmakers like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has spoken out against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza for months, have been more direct in their decision to boycott Netanyahu’s speech.
“I think I speak not only for myself, but for a number of other senators who think this decision is very, very bad,” Sanders told NBC’s Chris Hayes earlier this month. “You do not honor a foreign leader by addressing a joint session of Congress currently involved in the worst humanitarian disaster in this country’s modern history.”
“What we are seeing now is starvation and famine affecting thousands and thousands of children,” he continued. “The architect of that policy is not someone you honor by bringing to the United States Congress.”
Among the top lawmakers who invited Netanyahu was Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the country’s highest-ranking Jewish elected official and a Democrat who said in March that the Israeli leader had “lost his way.” Schumer later said that while he strongly disagreed with Netanyahu, he invited the leader to Congress because “America’s relationship with Israel is rock-solid.”
Giving Netanyahu a platform in Congress “undermines the ceasefire deal that President Biden is trying to get Israeli leaders to accept,” said Lily Greenberg Call, according to IfNotNow, a Jewish American group against the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip.
Greenberg Call, the Biden administration’s first Jewish American political appointee to resign over U.S. Gaza policy, made the comments while protesting Netanyahu’s upcoming speech with fellow Jewish Americans at Schumer’s office last week. The demonstration was organized by IfNotNow.
“Sen. Schumer, you must 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 said. Conversation continued. “What values lead you to invite a war criminal like Netanyahu here, Senator? It can’t be the same Jewish values I learned. … Think carefully about your legacy; it’s up to you to decide.’
