US Senator Chris Van Hollen, a prominent American lawmaker and member of the chamber’s foreign relations committee, has criticised the House and Senate leadership’s decision to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give an address to Congress.
Speaking with Bloomberg, Van Hollen said that Netanyahu giving an address to Congress risks signalling that Washington is endorsing his war strategy in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians so far.
The address could also send a message to Netanyahu that he can continue to avoid the repeated demands by Democrats for Israel’s military to do more to protect civilian life in Gaza.
“I’m not sure why the United States would want to reward a prime minister who has repeatedly flaunted the requests of the president of the United States,” Van Hollen said.
“Netanyahu wants to come here and pretend he’s Winston Churchill — and he is no Winston Churchill.”
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The remarks appear to be a reference to a video posted by Netanyahu, in which he criticised US President Joe Biden’s administration for holding a shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs to Israel.
He compared Israel’s war on Gaza to Britain’s WWII battle against Nazi Germany, playing off an iconic speech by Winston Churchill where he called on the US to provide Britain with new weapons.
“Give us the tools and we’ll finish the job a lot faster,” Netanyahu said.
Van Hollen’s remarks are notable given that he is closer to the centre of the Democratic Party, and has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from pro-Israel donors.
He is much less critical of Israel’s war efforts than the more progressive lawmakers, like Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib, Missouri’s Cori Bush or New York’s Jamaal Bowman.
The leaders of the Senate and House, from both Democratic and Republican leadership, invited Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress on 24 July.
“We join the state of Israel in your struggle against terror, especially as Hamas continues to hold American and Israeli citizens captive and its leaders jeopardise regional stability,” the lawmakers said in a letter to the prime minister.
The invitation comes despite growing criticism of Netanyahu’s handling of the war on Gaza, which has included public disagreements with the White House.
Several lawmakers have announced plans to boycott the address, including Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Fifty-eight lawmakers skipped Netanyahu’s address to Congress in 2015.
In addition to rebuking the idea to invite Netanyahu to Washington, Van Hollen reiterated a call to pause the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel, until it receives assurances that Israel will not impede the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“When it comes to offensive weapons systems, I don’t think we should have a policy of a one-way blank check,” Van Hollen said.
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