More than 200 anonymous staff members across 122 Democratic and Republican congressional offices signed a letter this week calling for Congress to protest or boycott Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech next week on Capitol Hill, citing concerns about the ongoing war in Gaza.
The letter, organized by the Congressional Progressive Staff Association and signed by 230 House and Senate staffers, said speaking out against Netanyahu’s July 24 joint address to Congress was an “issue of morality” and not politics.
“Citizens, students, and lawmakers across the country and the world have spoken out against the actions of Mr. Netanyahu in his War on Gaza,” the letter reads. “Israelis have been protesting in the streets for months, decrying his failure to negotiate a ceasefire and release of hostages. We hope you will join your fellow Members of Congress in protest at his speech or in refusing to attend it.”
Some staffers, mostly progressives, have repeatedly called for a cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, including at a demonstration in November and another in May.
Several Democratic lawmakers have already announced they will protest Netanyahu’s speech, which was organized after a May invitation from the top Democratic and Republican leaders in both chambers.
It’s likely that most if not all of the roughly 100 members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus in the House and Senate will boycott or protest the speech in some way.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), among the most vocal critics of Israel’s war in Gaza, earlier this month criticized leaders for inviting Netanyahu while more than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war that began Oct. 7, when Hamas invaded southern Israel and killed some 1,200 people and took roughly 250 hostages. Sanders reupped his vow to sit out the meeting last month, calling the Israeli leader a “war criminal.”
Netanyahu will arrive in Washington next week for the speech before Congress and will meet with President Biden at the White House for his first visit since 2020.
The joint address to Congress is the prime minister’s first since 2015, when 58 lawmakers boycotted him over concerns about his opposition to the Iran nuclear deal under negotiation at the time between Tehran and then-President Obama.
Israel has faced widespread criticism for its nearly 10-month war in Gaza, where Palestinians are struggling to access the basic necessities of food and water and are not considered safe anywhere in the territory by the United Nations from airstrikes and other fighting.
The Biden administration is working on a deal to reach a cease-fire and free the remaining roughly 120 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, and though recent statements indicated progress was being made, an agreement has yet to be announced.