Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of the US Congress on 3 March 2015 at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. (Mandel Ngan/AFP)
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to
address the US Congress on Wednesday. - The visit coincides with political turmoil in the US,
including an attack on presidential candidate Donald Trump and Biden endorsing
Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidential race after dropping out. - Criticism from some US lawmakers like Bernie Sanders and
protests against Netanyahu indicate a divided stance on his policies, despite
strong military and political support ties between the US and Israel.
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will deliver a landmark speech to the US
Congress Wednesday, seeking to rally support at a time of tensions between his
country and its main military backer over the war in Gaza.
Washington
has been increasingly critical of the mounting toll on civilians from more than
nine months of war in the narrow coastal territory, while protests in Israel by
families of hostages taken by Hamas are also causing headaches for Netanyahu at
home.
The Israeli
premier’s visit comes at a time of political upheaval in the United States,
with a gunman targeting Republican candidate Donald Trump, and President Joe
Biden bowing out of the 2024 race for the White House and endorsing his deputy,
Kamala Harris.
Prior to
departing Israel on Monday, Netanyahu said he would “seek to anchor the
bipartisan support that is so important for Israel” in his address to
Congress.
In a statement, he said:
I will tell my friends on both sides of the aisle that regardless who the American people choose as their next president, Israel remains America’s indispensable and strong ally in the Middle East.
Biden will
meet Netanyahu on Thursday, while Harris will hold separate talks with the
Israeli leader. She will not, however, attend his speech due to previously
scheduled travel.
Netanyahu
will also meet with Trump – with whose administration he had a much less
fraught relationship than Biden’s – in Florida on Friday.
READ | Donald Trump to meet Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida on Friday
When he
speaks on Wednesday, Israel’s longest-serving premier will become the first
foreign leader to address a joint meeting of the two chambers four times –
pulling ahead of Britain’s Winston Churchill.
Security fencing has been erected around the perimeter of the US Capitol grounds ahead of Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a Joint Meeting of Congress. (Samuel Corum / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Speaker of
the House Mike Johnson said Tuesday that with Israel facing attacks from
various Iranian proxies, “it has never been more important than it is
right now to stand with our closest ally in the Middle East.”
‘Should not be
welcomed’
But
Netanyahu has lost backing among some liberal lawmakers, including independent
Senator Bernie Sanders, who said Tuesday that “Netanyahu should not be
welcomed into the US Congress.”
“On
the contrary, his policies in Gaza and the West Bank and his refusal to support
a two-state solution should be roundly condemned,” Sanders wrote in a
social media post, adding that he would not be attending.
Dick
Durban, the number-two Democrat in the Senate, said he would also not be
attending.
In a statement, he said:
I will stand by Israel, but I will not stand and cheer its current prime minister.
Highlighting
opposition to the Israeli leader, at least 200 people protested against
Netanyahu’s speech at a building in the US Capitol complex on Tuesday. Capitol
police said they carried out arrests and had cleared the area.
Israel has
recently intensified its attacks on Gaza and Netanyahu has insisted that only
piling on military pressure can free the hostages and defeat Hamas, which
launched a shock attack on 7 October that resulted in the deaths of 1 197
people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
Hamas
militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in Gaza, including 44
the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s
retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39 090 people, also
mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health
ministry.
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Publicly,
Biden has voiced strong support for Israel. But he expressed concern over an
offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah and suspended a shipment of 2 000-pound
bombs to Israel over fears that they would be used in populated areas.
Despite the
tensions, the United States has defended Israeli interests while taking a key
role in mediation efforts, and the countries’ military relationship remains
strong, officials say.
But Council
on Foreign Relations Middle East specialist Steven Cook said that “never
before has the atmosphere been so fraught.”
“There
is clearly tension in the relationship, especially between the White House and
the Israeli prime minister,” Cook said.
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