Ro Khanna will not attend Netanyahu’s Congress speech

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) revealed Sunday that he planned to skip Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress next month, saying he was not interested in attending a “one-way lecture.”

“I will not attend,” Khanna said during an appearance on Meet the Press. “I said that if he wants to come to speak to members of Congress about how to end the war and release hostages, I would be fine doing that, but I’m not going to sit in a one-way lecture.”

Khanna joins several of his Democratic colleagues who are protesting Netanyahu’s address, which House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) invited the prime minister to deliver on July 24.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) reacted to Netanyahu’s announced trip by saying he “shouldn’t be here.” She recently said she felt the prime minister was a “war criminal.”

Netanyahu’s speech comes as the prime minister is facing a career-defining moment as he awaits a response from the terrorist group Hamas to a proposed ceasefire deal. The proposal would temporarily halt Israel’s offensive in Gaza, where the Israeli military launched a counterattack nine months ago in response to Hamas’s surprise terrorist attack in October.

Israel’s aggressive response to the attack, which has decimated parts of Gaza and killed thousands of Palestinians, among whom Hamas is embedded, has drawn both fierce support from some and skepticism or deep condemnation from others.

Republicans in Congress have largely rallied around Israel, while Democrats have fractured over the matter.

Netanyahu’s visit will mark the first time he has addressed Congress since 2015. Many Democrats also boycotted that speech, which occurred in the midst of a heavily strained relationship between Netanyahu and former President Barack Obama.

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Khanna said he agreed with Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), who also plans to skip Netanyahu’s address because of the Israel-Hamas war and because of the prime minister’s past tensions with Obama.

“I agree with Rep. Clyburn. I mean, how he treated President Obama, he should not expect reciprocity. That said, I think it should be polite, but we’re not going to make a big deal about it,” Khanna said. “He’s obviously addressing the Congress, so there has to be decorum.”