Netanyahu should not be honored with a congressional address

The honor of addressing a joint meeting of Congress has been granted to few world leaders over the years, including several Israeli presidents and prime ministers; the most recent being Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2015 and Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog in September 2023. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has invited Netanyahu to address Congress, and it is likely to happen sometime during the next eight weeks.

Netanyahu comes to Washington attempting to salvage his shattered status in Israel. It’s the maneuver of a beleaguered prime minister who has lost the public’s trust, failed to release hostages or to outline a path out of the devastation in Gaza. Now he’s seeking to use the theater of a congressional address as a backdrop for his political survival campaign — not to enhance and strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship.

In the face of deepening U.S. divisions over his leadership and support for the Israeli government, he seeks to assuage Israeli concerns that the U.S.-Israel relationship has fractured as a consequence of his destructive leadership.

Netanyahu and his Likud party are confronting severe political challenges in Israel. The streets are filled with protestors vehemently opposing the government’s policies and decrying the political and security failures that led to the horrific Oct. 7 terror attack. Likud continues to trail in election polling. 

Instead of facing the concerns of Israeli citizens, however, Netanyahu seeks to secure legitimacy from Washington. Since Oct. 7 he has given foreign media close to 30 interviews, but still has not sat for a single interview with an Israeli journalist. Now, continuing his evasion of meaningful accountability, he shuns debate in Jerusalem in favor of applause from MAGA Republicans in Washington. 

Facing a criminal trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust, Netanyahu has relied on far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir for his political and legal survival. Netanyahu has aligned himself with an extreme faction that is steering the country into disaster, putting personal interests before the security, diplomatic, economic and social welfare of Israel.

Those same far-right leaders have made clear that a hostage release deal should not be a priority, which has had stark repercussions: An unrelenting conflict and the prolonged captivity of hostages by Hamas for more than 220 days in unspeakable conditions. Netanyahu’s determination to cling to the prime ministership comes at a high price, with the Israeli public shouldering the consequences of his political desperation.

Now, he is also facing the possibility of arrest warrant proceedings at the International Criminal Court for allegations against his government’s efforts to restrict humanitarian aid — fueling death and catastrophe for families Gaza, undermining Israel’s founding values, and weakening global support for the war against Hamas. 

Senior ministers, including Defense Minister Yoav Galant and war cabinet partner Benny Gantz, have publicly expressed their concern over Netanyahu's conduct and his apparent plan for a “forever war” in Gaza. They have been particularly vocal about Netanyahu’s refusal to permit any form of Palestinian governance in Gaza; a policy which is leading towards the imposition of Israeli military rule over the Strip while his far-right allies flirt with the plans to establish settlements there. 

Meanwhile, his government consistently rejects proposals for diplomatic progress with Saudi Arabia alongside the advancement of a Palestinian state, while repeatedly stalling negotiations for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. 

Netanyahu has been invited by the staunchly conservative House Speaker in an effort to drive a political wedge into the Democratic Party by exploiting and inflaming fair-minded disagreements and undermining a sitting president’s policies. We should not confuse this for an effort to strengthen and reinforce the U.S.-Israel relationship — indeed, it may have the opposite effect. 

The United States should deny him the honor of addressing Congress until he agrees to a deal that secures the release of hostages, allows the U.S. to assist in creating a viable political alternative to Hamas in Gaza and promotes the progress of Israel’s regional acceptance. The United States has leverage to help free hostages, protect civilians and press its friend in the Middle East to pursue a better path for the sake of its own future — pro-Israel leaders must use it.

Nadav Tamir is executive director of J Street Israel and is an Israeli citizen.