UPDATE: Rep. John Lewis’s communications director reached out to YWN to tell us that our language was incorrect.
YWN wrote regarding Lewis’s decision to skip the speech: “His office confirmed he’s not going but emphasized he’s not organizing a formal boycott”
An email from his communications director asked if we could modify the text. The request is below:
“I said what he said that he did not plan to attend…..Please correct. Thanks”
YWN readers, Please take note of this modification in text.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to deliver a historic speech to a joint session of Congress on March 3. Netanyahu was invited by US Congress House Speaker John Boehner to talk about the Iranian threat, and a storm of controversy has surrounded the invite since then.
The White House was furious that it was not involved in coordinating the visit and as a result, President Obama and Vice-President Biden have declared they will not be meeting with Netanyahu while the prime minister is in Washington.
In addition, numerous Congressman have announced they will skip Netanyahu’s Congress speech. As of this writing, 19 House Representatives and three Senators will skip the speech.
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The following officials will not attend Netanyahu’s speech:
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (Ore.) — Wrote a Jan. 29 column in The Huffington Post explaining his decision, saying the Constitution “vests the responsibility for foreign affairs in the president.”
Rep. G.K. Butterfield (N.C.) — The head of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) focused on Boehner undermining Obama in a statement and emphasized he’s not urging a boycott.
Rep. Andre Carson (Ind.)
Rep. James Clyburn (S.C.) — Clyburn is the highest-ranking Democratic leader to say he’ll skip the speech.
Rep. Diana DeGette (Colo.)
Rep. Donna Edwards (Md.)
Rep. Keith Ellison (Minn.) — He is head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), a member of the CBC and the first Muslim in Congress.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.) — Grijalva is a co-chairman of the CPC.
Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (Ill.) — A spokesman told the Chicago Sun-Times that Gutierrez has a “strong” record on Israel but called the speech “a stunt.”
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.)
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (Texas) — “The Congresswoman has no plans to attend the speech at this time,” a spokeswoman said.
Rep. Barbara Lee (Calif.) — A member of the CBC and former head of the CPC.
Rep. John Lewis (Ga.) — His office confirmed he’s not going but emphasized he’s not organizing a formal boycott
Rep. Betty McCollum (Minn.): “In my view Mr. Netanyahu’s speech before Congress is nothing more than a campaign event hosted by Speaker Boehner and paid for by the American people,” McCollum said in a statement.”
Rep. Jim McDermott (Wash.) — “I do not intend to attend the speech of Bibi,” he said in an email to a Seattle newspaper.
Rep. Gregory Meeks (N.Y.) — A CBC member.
Rep. Beto O’Rourke (Texas)
Rep. Chellie Pingree (Maine)
Rep. Charles Rangel (N.Y.) — “I’m offended as an American,” he said on MSNBC.
Rep. Cedric Richmond (La.)
Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.)
Rep. John Yarmuth (Ky.) — “We know what he is going to say,” the Jewish lawmaker said in a statement.
Senate (3)
Sen. Patrick Leahy (Vt.) — Leahy called it a “tawdry and high-handed stunt,” according to a Vermont newspaper.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats, said it’s “wrong” that Obama wasn’t consulted about the speech.
Sen. Brian Schatz (Hawaii) — “The U.S.-Israel relationship is too important to be overshadowed by partisan politics,” said Schatz in a statement. “I am disappointed in the Republican leadership’s invitation of Prime Minister Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress with the apparent purpose of undermining President Obama’s foreign policy prerogatives.”
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25 Responses
It says “19 house representatives”, but if you count its 22.
Am I missing something?
Mr. Netanyahu made the mistake of cozying up to the loser of the 2012 US presidential election, and now he is repeating his 2012 mistake. Anyone who does not see that this is a cheap stunt by Messrs. Netanyahu and Boehner does not understand the real world, and if you do not understand the real world, you cannot really understand Torah.
None of whom are from districts with a large Jewish population. This suggests that many Democrats are afraid of following Obama’s marching orders.
When you’ve lost John Lewis, a huge supporter of Israel, you’ve lost America’s moral center.
However, it should be noted that when he stated that he was not going to attend, he went out of his way to say that he was not objecting to Netanyahu but to Boehner. Hopefully this will backfire on the Republicans but not on Israel.
This last statement from Sen. Brian Schatz (Hawaii) does sound hyprocritical to me.
As an American I am offended that Charlie Rangel isn’t in jail.
We all know that “charliehall” is a wild-eye liberal but he embarasses himself and he discredits his own views when he sides with Obama in this manner. I never saw John Lewis at the forefront of defending israel so I sure don’t think he is at ‘moral center of the nation” It has become fully apparent that Obama -at the minimum- doesn’t give a hoot about israel. Charlie- you are on the wrong side on this.
Saying Netanyahu made the mistake of cozying up to the loser of the 2012 US presidential election, is like starting the meggilah when Esther points a finger at Haman…
1. Obama (correctly perhaps) sees it in America’s interests to cozy up with Iran and with those Muslim states that oppose Islamic State. Throwing Israel under the bus is part of the policy.
2. The Israeli left and the majority of Jewish Democrats tend to see eye to eye on many issues (the desirability of uprooting the West Bank settlements, which have become a hotbed of religious nationalism).
3. Jewish who support Israel may have a problem being Democrats, as do Jewish who hold traditional religious views (which don’t mesh with the Democrats’ “war on religion”). It should be noted that the Democrats’ “war on religion” neatly meshes with the Israeli left’s view that Israel should be a state that is free from Torah.
I do think Netanyahu is making a mistake with this speech
#2 talking about yourself?
“Anyone who does not see that this is a .. stunt”by the Democrats and the White House to deter Bibi’s attraction to the unsure voters in his coming reelection.. does not understand the real world
You left out the President of the Senate, Mr. Joe Biden.
Rep. Betty McCollum (Minn.): “In my view Mr. Netanyahu’s speech before Congress is nothing more than a campaign event hosted by Speaker Boehner and paid for by the American people,” McCollum said in a statement.”
lets see, stunts by democrats and paid for by taxpayers,
funeral for trayvon martin, flights to cuba, biden trip toto iowa to stump for a democrat
additionally how are the taxpayers paying for this?
I’m glad to see CharlatanHall and Nfgo3 come out as i expected… SELF HATING JEWS. Its too bad they belong to the avoda zora of liberalism as opposed to the religion of Judaism.
Forget the politics and even the messenger. focus on the message. Don’t you want to hear the views of the PM of the country that is on the firing line. agree or disagree but don’t muzzle unless you are afraid that what he says ( supported by most experts) is the truth and not the world through rose colored glasses. What is most disapointing is the number of memebrs of the black caucus who are not attending. Jews marced in Selma and some died . Never forget that Mr. Rangel etc/
There’s absolutely nothing to lose at this point. It has become crystal clear that it’s time to stop worrying about what America and the world might think of us. Whenever we go that route it constantly backfires, as it did, most recently, in Gaza. We have become grown ups (hopefully). The White House has been ever so un-subtle about the fact that he can care less (at best) about the great land and people of Israel. The time is now for the leader of the state of Israel to take matters into his own hands, because if it’s not now…..G-d forbid, the threat is enormous, and who knows what might happen if bloodthirsty leaders have nuclear weapons. May G-d give him success in his mission, and may we merit the salvation from those that want to wipe out our men, women and children, as we merited in the times of Mordechai and Esther.
Akupermas 3 part comment. I can live with what he says in 2 and 3, but did anyone notice what he said in
part 1? He says that part of obamas policy is to throw israel under the bus, and he precedes that statement, by saying “correctly so”. Meaning to say, that he actually agrees with him. I think we have our own zoabi right here on this blog!
Re comment 14: I am not a self-hating Jew. In fact, I am not even a Mark-Levin-hating Jew, but it’s a struggle. And where in Torah does it say that you (or anyone else) can decide that I or any other person does not belong to the “religion of Judaism”. Hashem gave me a Jewish soul, and nothing you say or think can change that.
Charlatan and nfg0,
I suppose you people who worship the avoda zora of liberalism have no problem with Omamzer sending his people over to Israel to mess around the election? ON OUR DIME???
What offends me the most is all of these ad-homonym attacks in the comments.
Nfg0, a cardiac jew. That says it all.
the ever so arrogant bibi shame on him
misgarza ba umos terrible chilul hashem
Israel is fighting for its mere existence, by not showing up that speech they are not anti-Israel deep down they are anti-Jewish that is a fact
Re comment 21: Since you are saying it all, and you are saying it about me, would you be so kind as to tell me what a “cardiac jew” is? Does it mean a Jew who has suffered a myocardial infarction? atherosclerosis? aortic aneurism? atrial arithmya? My heart’s beatin’ rhythm and my soul keep asingin’ the blues?