While Republicans are looking forward to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Wednesday afternoon speech to a joint meeting of Congress, most Democrats are approaching the occasion with bated breath and dread — if they plan to attend at all.
The elected leader of Israel will arrive to a Capitol Hill complex with a significantly ramped up security presence and barricades to keep out the many different anti-war and religious groups planning to protest his speech, a sign of a remarkable change to the once-vaunted U.S.-Israel special relationship.
Congress has long led the way on that relationship, with both Democratic and Republican administrations repeatedly having to work to catch up with and implement many different pro-Israel policies. Those laws include generous weapons assistance, the location of the U.S. embassy and how the U.S. government is allowed to engage with and support the Palestinians.
