WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – The office of House Speaker Mike Johnson has announced that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address a joint session of Congress on July 24 at 2 p.m. ET.
In response, several Democrats announced that they would stay away from the speech.
“His right-wing extremist government needs to hear from the United States that we need peace in the region, not an escalating war,” said Democratic Rep. Greg Casar of Texas.
Congressman Casar said he will not attend Netanyahu’s speech next month. Hill.com reported that Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), Representative James Clyburn (D-Calif.) and Representative Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) are among the Democrats who will not attend Netanyahu’s speech.
“He should make sure he brings the Israeli hostages home,” Casar said of Netanyahu.
At a press conference on Thursday, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said he would attend Netanyahu’s address.
The speech comes at a time of increasing tensions in relations between the Biden administration and Netanyahu.
Earlier this week, Netanyahu posted a video on X (formerly known as Twitter) criticizing the Biden administration for its reluctance to supply weapons to Israel.
“It is unbelievable that the government has withheld weapons and ammunition from Israel in recent months,” Netanyahu said.
John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, said the government was not aware that Netanyahu would release the video.
“It was upsetting and disappointing for us,” Kirby said. “It wasn’t just wrong.”
The Biden administration said in May that it was delaying the shipment of massive offensive weapons to Israel over concerns they could be used in Rafah, a town with more than a million civilians.
Meanwhile, Republicans have stressed their unwavering support for Israel following the October 7 attacks.
“Israel is our ally and must be defended,” said Senator James Lankford (Republican of Oklahoma).
Israel said nearly 1,200 people were killed in the October 7 Hamas attacks and 250 were taken hostage to Gaza.
Since then, more than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
