The Blogs: Netanyahu’s Sad US Visit

In Israel today fighting continues in Gaza in a number of locations in response to information developed by Israel’s security services. Tit-for-tat activity continues on the northern border with Lebanon with damage sustained in Kiryat Shmona, along with any number of fires resulting from Hizballah rocket fire.

To the disappointment of the residents of the north who remain evacuated, the Ministry of Education announced today that the school year will not start on September 1^st in the evacuated areas of the north but will function in a yet to be explained “new program.”

But the real news is in Washington, where Prime Minister Netanyahu arrived early Tuesday to give his address to the US Congress later today. Sadly he faced a whole host of issues there as those of us who thought he should not have made the trip at this time suspected he would.

On landing he realized he had a rather empty schedule without confirmed meetings with either Pres. Biden, VP Harris or former Pres. Trump. All of those meetings seem now to be in place but it was depressing to see the “down mood” of our Prime Minister at his meeting with hostage parents on Tuesday, given the absence of anything on the schedule except “the speech” and a meeting with Christian Evangelical leaders.
The meeting with the hostage families was, of course, just with the families of the five American hostages still being held by Hamas. Afterwards, one parent was asked his impression of the meeting and he responded that the answer is always the same, “We think we are close and are doing our best to move forward.” Given its been 292 days and counting that answer does not provide a lot of solace.
Outside the US Capitol and on surrounding streets there were two types of noisy demonstrations against Netanyahu’s visit. A large number of anti-Israel protestors made their displeasure about his visit clear as they chanted the standard phrases that have become symbolic of anti-Israel protests since October 7^th.
A second group of pro-Israel but frustrated supporters of the state demonstrated against the Prime Minister for not moving ahead with one of the numerous hostage release deals that have been floated over the last months.
Inside the Capitol itself, 300 members of Jewish Voices for Peace (not very Jewish and not very peaceful either) outfitted in red shirts reading “Not in Our Name” also protested against Netanyahu as the “perpetrator of genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.”
Inside the House Chamber today when Netanyahu mounts the podium, there will be a lot of empty seats. Vice-President Kamala Harris, who would normally sit next to the Speaker of the House, will not attend citing preset schedules for the time of the speech. In addition, many other legislators including Senators Jerry Nadler (New York), Dick Durbin (Illinois), Bernie Sanders (Vermont), Chris Van Holen (Maryland), Jeff Merkley (Oregon), Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts) and Senator/Vice Presidential candidate J D Vance (Ohio) as well as South Carolina Congressman James Clybourn and a host of others including the members of The Squad will also boycott the event.
To top it off 17 senior officials from Israel sent a formal letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakim Jeffries saying that the Prime Minister should not have been invited as he is “an existential threat to Israel.” They include, among others, former Mossad Head Tamir Pardo, former IDF Chief of Staff, Dan Halutz, and former Defense Chief Moshe Ya’alon.

Did we need all of this? Did the Prime Minister need to leave Israel at this critical time with two major initiatives on the table to go to Washington so he can claim he spoke before Congress more than any other country’s leader? Is that important to us?

Better he should have stayed, finished up the hostage release deal with its attendant stoppage of military activity in Gaza. He also should have helped move forward the Saudi initiative to normalize relations with us as well. Sad that he did not make that calculation which, instead, leaves us fighting on multiple fronts with the Houthis threatening to bring their war to the center of Israel as well.

Perhaps in his meeting with Biden on Thursday, the President will get the point across to our Prime Minister, that the real test of leadership is knowing when to step down.