Many US lawmakers expected to boycott Netanyahu's address to Congress

Nearly 40 US lawmakers are expected to boycott an address to Congress by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu's speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday is in response to an invitation extended by House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has been a vocal critic of Israeli attacks on Gaza, said, “Netanyahu should not be welcomed into the US Congress.

"On the contrary, his policies in Gaza and the occupied West Bank and his refusal to support a two-state solution should be roundly condemned," he said. "As I stated last month, I will not be attending his address."

Other senators, all Democrats, who said they would not be attending the address include Patty Murray, Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen, Brian Schatz, Jeff Merkley, Dick Durbin, Tim Kaine, and Peter Welch.

Van Hollen said last week that it was a "big mistake" to invite Netanyahu to Congress and he would not attend.

"The actions and words of Prime Minister Netanyahu and his ultra-right extremist coalition, both before and since the Oct. 7 attacks, have weakened the ties between the United States and Israel," he said on the Senate floor.

At a pro-Israel event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last week, Johnson noted that Democratic lawmakers planned to protest Netanyahu’s address to Congress.

"There's a number of Democrats in the House who have said they are going to boycott the event, and then some others are going to protest," he said.

'War criminal'

Also, 28 members of the House of Representatives announced their intention to skip the address, with Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American, slamming the invitation and calling for Netanyahu's arrest.

"Netanyahu is a war criminal committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It is utterly disgraceful that leaders from both parties have invited him to address Congress. He should be arrested and sent to the International Criminal Court," Tlaib said Tuesday.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said she is not attending the address because she believes Netanyahu is not interested in peace in the Middle East.

"He certainly hasn't had an interest in bringing home hostage families," she said.

The other representatives include Hank Johnson, Stephen Lynch, Jan Schakowsky, Nydia Velázquez, Mark Takano, Maxwell Frost, Jared Huffman, Jim McGovern, Jamaal Bowman, Delia Ramirez, Ayanna Pressley, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Betty McCollum, Rosa DeLauro, Jamie Raskin, Ro Khanna, Sara Jacobs, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Cori Bush, Ami Bera, Steve Cohen, Don Beyer, Greg Casar, Jim Clyburn and Lloyd Doggett.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive against Gaza since an Oct. 7 operation by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

Nearly 39,100 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 90,000 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.