Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said on Tuesday that she will not be attending Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before Congress, which is scheduled for July 24.
“No,” Warren told a reporter who asked her if she plans to attend Netanyahu’s speech.
When asked why not, she replied, “Prime Minister Netanyahu has created a humanitarian catastrophe. He has also made clear that he does not support US policy for a two-state solution that will let the people of Israel and the Palestinians develop their own nation, self-determination, live with dignity.”
Warren added, “Look, we need a ceasefire, we need to get those hostages back, we need humanitarian relief, and we need to be giving both parties a big shove toward getting to the negotiating table and working out a peaceful solution.”
She was asked whether President Joe Biden should make clear that Netanyahu should not address Congress and responded, “That’s up to the President, but I’m not going.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) recently announced that Netanyahu will address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, July 24. Johnson had sent Netanyahu a formal invitation to speak during a joint meeting of Congress, and the invitation featured the signatures of all four Congressional leaders: Johnson, McConnell, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
Axios reported earlier this week that many Democratic lawmakers are planning to protest or boycott Netanyahu's address to Congress, and are even discussing counter-programing the speech.
While some progressives intend to attend the address and actively disrupt it, others intend to skip it, the report said.
Warren has long been critical of Netanyahu. In 2019, she said the United States should “call out” corruption in Israel under Netanyahu. After Netanyahu was indicted for bribery, fraud and breach of trust, she claimed that Netanyahu will "stop at nothing to enrich himself and stay in power. This blatant corruption has no place in any democracy."
Shortly after she announced her presidential bid, Warren said that the United States should be pushing Israel and the Palestinian Authority toward a two-state solution.
Later, she suggested that the US should withhold aid to Israel as a means to pressure it to stop “settlement construction”.
In 2021, Warren launched a scathing attack on Netanyahu and accused him of driving Israel to a political crisis as a means to protect himself from criminal charges.