By Ralph Nader
July 19, 2024
Unless
the GOP in Congress has a last-minute rethinking, P.M. Netanyahu of
Israel will enjoy his record-setting fourth address to a Joint Session
of Congress on July 24, 2024. Scores of Democrats are boycotting the
event. Meanwhile, in Gaza, Netanyahu is committing mass murders/war
crimes and killing hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians, most
of them children and women, blowing up their crucial life-saving
facilities and wounding the survivors rendered homeless and defenseless
against Biden-provided deadly weapons.
Netanyahu’s
first address to Congress was on July 10, 1996, when a younger
Netanyahu promised to end U.S. aid to a prosperous Israel and received a
standing ovation. He obviously has broken this promise, as his U.S.
lobbies have demanded tens of billions of more U.S. taxpayer dollars.
Netanyahu’s
third address to Congress on March 3, 2015 bypassed President Barack
Obama in an arrogant breach of protocol. The supine Congress gave him
many standing ovations.
The
push for Netanyahu’s forthcoming address was spearheaded by the fanatic
GOP House Speaker Michael Johnson (R-LA) who easily politically
intimidated House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate
Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer into going along.
Johnson’s
invitation has outraged many Israelis – majorities of whom despise
Netanyahu, who is under indictment by Israeli prosecutors for corruption
and because of his attacks on the judiciary and destruction of their
protest rights.
Former
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN regarding the invitation to
Netanyahu “I think this is wrong.” Hundreds of House and Senate staffers
are signing petitions urging Democratic lawmakers to protest or boycott
it. The staffers pointed to “bombings of schools, hospitals, and
mosques” and a “campaign of mass starvation against Palestinian
children” in addition to censoring media coverage of the devastation.
Noting
that world opinion is overwhelmingly against Netanyahu’s genocidal war
on Gaza, the staffers’ letter emphasized that “Israelis have been
protesting in the streets for months, decrying his failure to negotiate a
ceasefire and release of hostages.”
An outstanding affirmation of these sentiments by Congressional staff came on June 26, 2024 in an op-ed in the New York Times by
six very prominent Israelis, including a former prime minister, titled
“We Are Israelis Calling on Congress to Disinvite Netanyahu.” It is
pertinent to present an excerpt from this urgent dispatch, as follows:
WE ARE ISRAELIS CALLING ON CONGRESS TO DISINVITE NETANYAHU
By David Harel, Tamir Pardo, Talia Sasson, Ehud Barak, Aaron Ciechanover and David Grossman
The
leaders of the U.S. Congress have invited Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu of Israel to address a joint meeting of the Senate and the
House of Representatives on July 24. Normally, we Israelis would
consider the invitation recognition of our two nations’ shared values
and a welcome gesture from our closest friend and ally, to whom we are
deeply and morally indebted.
But
Congress has made a terrible mistake. Mr. Netanyahu’s appearance in
Washington will not represent the State of Israel and its citizens, and
it will reward his scandalous and destructive conduct toward our
country.
We
come from a variety of areas of Israeli society: science, technology,
politics, defense, law and culture. We are thus in a good position to
assess the overall effect of Mr. Netanyahu’s government, and like many,
we believe that he is driving Israel downhill at an alarming speed, to
the extent that we may eventually lose the country we love.
To
date, Mr. Netanyahu has failed to come up with a plan to end the war in
Gaza and has been unable to gain the freedom of scores of hostages. At
the very least, an invitation to address Congress should have been
contingent upon resolving these two issues and, in addition, calling for
new elections in Israel.
Inviting
Mr. Netanyahu will reward his contempt for U.S. efforts to establish a
peace plan, allow more aid to the beleaguered people of Gaza and do a
better job of sparing civilians. Time and again, he has rejected
President Biden’s plan to remove Hamas from power in Gaza through the
establishment of a peacekeeping force. Such a move would very likely
bring in its wake a far broader regional alliance, including a vision to
solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is not only in Israel’s
interest but also in the interest of both political parties in the
United States. Mr. Netanyahu constitutes the main obstacle to these
outcomes.
The
man who will address Congress next month has failed to assume
responsibility for the blunders that allowed the Hamas assault,
initially blaming security chiefs (then quickly backtracking), and has yet to announce the establishment of a direly needed state commission of inquiry headed by a Supreme Court judge to look into the fiasco.
…..
Above all, many Israelis are convinced that Mr. Netanyahu has obstructed proposed deals with Hamas that would have led
to the release of the hostages in order to keep the war going and thus
avoid the inevitable political reckoning he will face when it ends.
…..
For
months now, many of us have participated in nationwide demonstrations
demanding an immediate release of the hostages, an end to the war and
immediate elections. Polls of Israelis show that a majority want immediate elections, or elections right at the end of the war.
A large portion of Israelis have lost faith in Mr. Netanyahu’s government.
…..
That’s
where Mr. Netanyahu’s speech to Congress fits in with his political
needs. No doubt it will be carefully stage-managed to prop up his shaky
hold on power and allow him to boast to his constituents about America’s
so-called support for his failed policies.
His
supporters in Israel will be emboldened by his appearance in Congress
to insist that the war continue, which will further distance any deal to
secure the release of the hostages, including several U.S. citizens.
Giving
Mr. Netanyahu the stage in Washington will all but dismiss the rage and
pain of his people, as expressed in the demonstrations throughout the
country. American lawmakers should not let that happen. They should ask
Mr. Netanyahu to stay home.
This full communication to the American people can be seen either in the New York Times or the Congressional Record of July 11, 2024.
There
will be mass protests outside Congress on July 24th by Jewish Voice for
Peace, Code Pink, Veterans for Peace and other civic groups. But there
would be a great benefit for boycotters like Senator Bernie Sanders,
Progressive House Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, and Cong. Mark Pocan to
secure a House Committee Room and invite, via Zoom, these six leading
Israelis to testify before the media on the same day. These messages
could reach the grisly, complicit architects of this disgraceful
defamation of the Peoples’ Legislature more than the bullhorns of the
upstanding peaceful protestors kept far away by the security police.