Netanyahu to face skeptical Democrats at congressional address

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will face off with skeptical Democrats increasingly hostile to his war in Gaza during a Wednesday address to a joint session of Congress.

The address comes at a tumultuous moment in politics in the United States, which is the most important supporter and ally of Israel in its war with Hamas.

Netanyahu will speak just days after President Biden, who had a fraught relationship with the Israeli leader and was politically injured by Democratic divisions over Israel’s war, announced he will not seek reelection.

Biden’s announcement has shaken up the presidential race, energizing Democrats behind Vice President Harris, the likely nominee, and bolstering their hopes of winning back the House.

Frustration with Netanyahu’s leadership has been boiling for months, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) calling for his resignation and many Democrats boycotting his address.  

Those concerns have only been compounded by Netanyahu’s failure to secure a cease-fire that would release the 120 hostages, including eight American citizens, who are held by Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. government.

“I’d like him to find a quick way to embrace the cease-fire so that the desolation in Gaza comes to an end and the hostages are released,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.). “And I’d like him to for once take a nonpartisan tone in his speech to Congress.” 

Netanyahu has been a divisive figure for Democrats in Washington for some time.

His last address to a joint session of Congress came in 2015, when he was opposing then-President Obama’s Iran nuclear deal. Some 60 Democrats boycotted that address, though Netanyahu’s position was backed by key Democrats, such as Schumer.

It’s not clear how many Democrats will skip Wednesday’s speech, though Harris, who had a previously scheduled event, will not preside over it. Harris will meet with Netanyahu separately from Biden this week, according to an aide to the vice president.

Israel’s war in Gaza has badly divided the Democratic Party. Even Democrats who wholeheartedly back Israel, such as Schumer, have criticized Netanyahu. 

More than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza over 10 months of war. The families of hostages have pressured Israel to return their loved ones, and Netanyahu is facing mounting protests in Israel to secure a deal. 

“We should have a unified message to prime minister Netanyahu that we need to get these hostages home,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told The Hill.

Netanyahu has resisted calls for a cease-fire, arguing his forces must completely destroy Hamas after the Palestinian militant group invaded southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,100 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.  

That view has complicated negotiations with Hamas, which is seeking a permanent end to the war in exchange for the release of hostages.  

The U.S. has in recent weeks indicated a deal is close on a plan presented by Biden that would see the exchange of the most vulnerable hostages for Palestinian prisoners, a temporary cease-fire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from populated areas of Gaza. The next phase would keep a cease-fire so long as negotiations continue to end the war and return the remaining hostages. 

But even with a deal in sight, Democrats are upset with how Israel has carried out the war in Gaza, expressing criticism over airstrikes in densely populated areas of the territory, attacks on hospitals and restrictions on humanitarian aid. 

Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), whose office was besieged by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on Tuesday, said he was looking to see if Democratic pressure has moved Netanyahu, though he has not seen evidence of that yet. 

“I wish he would focus on a different approach that doesn’t put so many lives at risk,” Kildee said. 

Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) said that Netanyahu remains an “obstacle to the peace that both Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve” and expressed concerns about congressional leadership giving him a public platform.

“It is apparent Republican leadership have given this platform to the Prime Minister in order to sow division amongst Members of Congress during this precarious time,” he said in a Tuesday statement. 

Republicans have been more uniform in supporting Israel and backing Netanyahu, and they could use the address for attacks on Democrats in this year’s elections. Most Republicans are likely to attend the address, though newly minted GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) will miss it.

Democrats want a forward-looking vision from Netanyahu and the Israeli government, including how Gaza will be ruled after the war. The U.S. supports a two-state solution in which a Palestinian state would stand next to Israel. 

Netanyahu, who rejects a two-state solution, has been reluctant to offer details of post-war governance, though he has called for a Palestinian group other than Hamas to rule the territory and pledged Israel would retain “indefinite” security control. 

Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said he wanted to hear about the long-term security plan for Israel and the Palestinian people. 

“After all this, we absolutely have to have some stability long-term,” Kim said, though he cautioned he doesn’t “have some standard in terms of what I’m expecting. It’s up to him to try [and] inform us of what he thinks needs to come through.” 

Rep. Bill Keating (D-Mass.) said he was hoping for “good news” about a cease-fire and hostage release deal, but he hopes Netanyahu will also listen to Democrats’ concerns. 

“We’re not here just to listen,” Keating said. “I hope he’s here to listen too.” 

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), however, was one of many Democrats critical of the decision to even have him address a joint session.

“He should not have a platform before Congress,” Merkley said in a statement.

Laura Kelly contributed.