Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of the United States Congress in the House chamber at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on March 3, 2015 ( Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images/AFP)
A proposal to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address US Congress is already causing controversy among American politicians. Many Democrats have said, both privately and publicly, that if Netanyahu were invited to speak to Congress, they would not attend, according to recent reports in American and Israeli media.
An anonymous source in the Democratic Party told Israeli KAN news outlet on Thursday that "Netanyahu's speech to Congress would be a grave mistake" and would "increase polarization and highlight the disagreement between Democrats and Republicans over the conduct of Netanyahu and Israel."
On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that he would move ahead with his decision to extend an invitation, despite the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) declaring his decision to apply for an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for war crimes.
According to a report from ABC News, Johnson said he was waiting to hear from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer about whether he would sign the letter of invitation before he sends it.
Johnson said that if Schumer did not agree to sign the letter, "We were going to proceed and invite Netanyahu just to the House."
Axios has published a report saying some top House Democrats think Schumer should not sign onto the invitation.
In March, Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish US elective official, delivered a pivotal speech to the Senate in which he called Netanyahu’s government “an obstacle to peace,” causing shockwaves.
“The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7,” he had said. “The world has changed — radically — since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.”
Netanyahu last addressed Congress in 2015. Nine year later, just the suggestion of a visit, before an invitation has even formally been extended, is causing an uproar.
“I boycotted his last visit. I certainly will not attend this one,” said Democrat representative Jan Schakowsky , a Jewish Democrat who characterized Netanyahu as “a menace,” according to a report from The Hill.
Democrat representative for Connecticut and senior member of the House Committee on Intelligence, Jim Himes, said Netanyahu "should be focused on freeing hostages, not on charming legislators,” according to Axios.
Top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East, Dean Phillips, told Axios that he thinks it a “strange time” to invite Netanyahu. “It’s a really divisive kind of move.”
Phillips says Netanyahu is "dividing this country ... in a similar way he's divided Israel, and I think that's awfully dangerous. I can only imagine the personal and political conflict facing Leader Schumer."
