While there has been no date set yet for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress, it may become even more obvious not only to Netanyahu but also to the Israeli people who their friends in Congress really are. If the continuing pro-Hamas protests around the country are any indication, it certainly is not Democrats and the left. Democrat snubs are nothing new for anything Israel-related, so a possible boycott of Netanyahu's speech may have him addressing a much friendlier audience than he might have thought.
I asked @SpeakerJohnson about Democrats boycotting @netanyahu’s speech
— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) June 4, 2024
“So be it,” Johnson said. If Democrats want to side with terrorists, that’s their prerogative.
🚨 “No Republicans will skip it,” he says🚨
It is expected that when the date is finalized, there will be a boycott of Netanyahu's visit by a large chunk of House and Senate Democrats in protest of how he has carried out the operations of the Israel-Hamas war. More than a few Democrats are upset that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) even extended the invitation to speak to Netanyahu, accusing Republicans of election-year tactics to divide them. Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said that the boycott "will be large" and that "a lot of people who are extremely upset he is coming here."
Many Democrats are split between what has always been unwavering U.S. support for Israel, the region's only democracy, and the emergence of pro-Hamas sentiment from constituents. Then there is the possibility of an Israeli-Hamas ceasefire, which Joe Biden spoke about on Friday; however, a senior Israeli official stated that what Biden announced was "not accurate." The mix of all these ingredients has at least one Democrat House member saying that many of their colleagues would "wait up until the very end to decide," adding that it is a "very fluid, unpredictable situation." Another Democrat House member may have given away some alternate plans by saying that "all is being discussed" and that "a number [of Democrats] are going and disrupting" Netanyahu's speech. It appears that a lot of Democrat behavior hinges on whether the ceasefire agreement goes through. Stay classy, Democrats.
Democratic members of Congress, mostly squad members, are threatening to boycott a joint Congressional address to Congress by Israeli Prime Minister Bebe Netanyahu, although the invitation has yet to be made. They are blasting SOTH Johnson and Leader Schumer for proposing it.…
— Robbie Mouton (@mcgmouton57) May 24, 2024
This would not be the first time that Benjamin Netanyahu has been greeted with Democrat temper tantrums. In 2015, 58 Democrat House and Senate members also boycotted a Netanyahu speech. Perhaps Bibi will chalk it up to the fact that some things never change. But while Netanyahu's dealings with another Democrat president, Barack Obama, might have been more subtle, Joe Biden is letting it all hang out. In a recent interview with TIME Magazine, Biden accused Netanyahu of prolonging the Israel-Hamas conflict for his own political benefit. Biden stated, “I’m not going to comment on that. There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion," says the man who is trying to put his chief political opponent in prison for his own political benefit.
Biden based his theory on the fact that, before the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, Netanyahu was embroiled in a domestic debate over judicial reforms that would reduce checks and balances. Biden stated:
And so it’s an internal domestic debate that seems to have no consequence. And whether he would change his position or not, it’s hard to say, but it has not been helpful.
Israel is facing criticism from not just pro-Hamas groups in the U.S. but from other nations who have called out Israel over the deaths of civilians and the lack of humanitarian aid in Gaza. Joe Biden continues to be stuck on the long-supported Democrat dream of a so-called "two-state solution," while Netanyahu rightly says that Hamas must be completely destroyed.
Joe Biden's TIME Magazine interview, however, should concern Benjamin Netanyahu much more than Democrats stomping out of the room if they don't get their way. Between being unable to complete a sentence and confusing Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, America might not be much help to Israel for a bit, at least until November.
"Bernie Sanders Vows to Boycott Congressional Address by Benjamin Netanyahu - No One Cares"
— Gray Wolf (@graywolf442) June 3, 2024
The dude spent his honeymoon in Moscow, Russia during the Cold War, which shows where his true sympathies lie. After a letter signed by the leaders in both Houses of Congress went out to…
