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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to address Congress today at 2 p.m. ET for the first time since the Hamas attacks on October 7.
Vice President Kamala Harris — the likely Democratic candidate for president after President Joe Biden dropped out the race — will be notably absent from the event, citing a scheduling conflict with a Black sorority convention in Indianapolis.
The decision has sparked a conversation on a possible shift in the Democratic party’s support of the war in Gaza.
Kamala Harris’ stance on war in Gaza
Harris’ moderate stance on the war in Gaza has not differed greatly from Biden’s, and the VP has strong ties to the Jewish community.
Yet Harris has also given strong speeches advocating for a ceasefire, months in advance of Biden’s unsuccessful ceasefire deal. Both Harris and Biden will still meet with Netanyahu on Thursday.
Nancy Pelosi is the latest and most high-profile in a string of Democrats to confirm they will not attend Netanyahu’s address to Congress.
This is not the first time that US lawmakers have boycotted a speech by the Israeli prime minister.
In March 2015, the last time Netanyahu addressed Congress, 58 members were reported to have boycotted the speech. Biden also did not attend in his then-role as vice president, largely because President Obama was not alerted ahead of time.
Boycott stretches to GOP
The grid below shows all the members of Congress who have so far decided to boycott today’s address. Click on each member to see their stance on Netanyahu.
At least nine senators and 29 representatives have so far said that they will not attend Netanyahu’s address to Congress, in addition to Harris. The vast majority of these are Democrats.
But one Republican representative for Kentucky, Thomas Massie, has also announced today that he will boycott the speech.
“The purpose of having Netanyahu address Congress is to bolster his political standing in Israel and to quell [international] opposition to his war. I don’t feel like being a prop so I won’t be attending,” he said in a statement on X/Twitter.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will meet with the Israeli prime minister in his Florida residence Mar-a-Lago on Friday.
Independent senator Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish, has long been vocal in his criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza, and accused Netanyahu of being a “war criminal” on Monday.
Both the oldest Jewish American Democrat — Jan Schakowsky — and the youngest — Sara Jacobs — are also choosing to boycott the address.
“I just came from listening to hostage families who were very clear that the most important thing to get their family members back is to end the war and to get a ceasefire,” Jacobs told The Independent’s Eric Garcia today.
The first Gen-Z member of Congress, Florida’s 27-year-old Maxwell Frost, has also boycotted, saying: “Netanyahu should be focused on working towards a peaceful end to the conflict, not coming to Congress to rally support for his brutal offensive.”
Palestinian-American Rep. Rashida Tlaib told The Independent: “Netanyahu is a war criminal committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It is utterly disgraceful that leaders from both parties have invited him to address Congress.”
Though there was speculation on whether she would boycott, Tlaib is currently in attendance at Netanyahu’s speech today.
“It is a sad day for our democracy when my colleagues will smile for a photo op with a man who is actively committing genocide. It is hypocritical to claim to be concerned about the massive death toll of innocent civilians, and then turn around and welcome the person responsible for these war crimes to our Capitol,” she said in a statement on Tuesday.
As Netanyahu gears up to give his speech, dozens more members of Congress are saying they will not attend in the final moments. This list will continue to be updated.
