Inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to a joint session of Congress is a bad idea that just got worse. Multiple news sites report that the Netanyahu government, via its Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, ran a multi-million dollar AI-powered disinformation campaign designed to generate support for their Gaza war among U.S. elected officials and the U.S. general public.
Yes, you heard that right. Our so-called ally—within weeks of the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack—was covertly creating fake social media accounts pretending to present American voter views in support of Israel. Their targets were, according to the account in The New York Times, “particularly ones who are Black and Democrats.”
The revelation was so shocking that even members of the Israeli establishment who had supported the Gaza war effort condemned it. (The effort was also exceptionally inept, reminding yet again that the vaunted Israeli intelligence and security community is something less than their reputation once suggested.)
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Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) responded to the news saying, “Our nation should speak in one voice against any foreign interference in our democracy from any country.” His comment frames precisely why the invitation to Netanyahu ought to be reconsidered. It is, after all, difficult to imagine other nations that use such tactics—the Russians, for example, being rewarded with the honor of an invitation to Vladimir Putin to address our federal legislature.
Of course, there were already deep reservations about extending the invitation to Netanyahu due to his other similarities with Putin—the fact that he is overseeing war crimes, for example.
Some have spoken out publicly against the invitation, such as leading progressive voices Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Sanders said, “Right now tens of thousands of children in Gaza are facing starvation, malnutrition and famine. And congressional leadership thinks it’s okay to invite war criminal Netanyahu to address Congress? No. Unacceptable.” Ocasio-Cortez said simply, “My opinion on this is pretty clear. He shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t be addressing Congress.”
The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart commented, “Bibi Netanyahu has been invited next week to come to lie to Congress.”
These views all draw attention to one of the central mysteries of extending the opportunity to the Israeli prime minister to address U.S. lawmakers. While it is easy to understand why Republicans would want Netanyahu to speak to Congress—they love anti-democracy liars who are in trouble with the law and who play footsie with Putin—it is hard to fathom why any Democrat would support this.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Leo Correa/AFP via Getty ImagesWhat were they thinking? Netanyahu is actively supporting Trump while undermining U.S. interests. “Bring Your War Criminal to Work Day” on Capitol Hill seems like a bad idea.
What is more, one of those extending the invitation to Netanyahu, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, made headlines earlier this spring by condemning Netanyahu. But he has since done an about face, and was joined in extending the invitation by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries—one of those who happened to be targeted by the Israeli disinformation operation.
Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International and a former senior U.S. AID official argued, “Just three months ago Sen. Schumer called Prime Minister Netanyahu ‘an obstacle to peace’ and said he had “lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence.”
“This,” Konyndyk continued, “Remains just as true today: as Palestinians in Gaza continue to starve, aid workers continue to be attacked by the IDF, and the humanitarian operation in Gaza breaks down due to Netanyahu’s Rafah offensive. Honoring him with an address before Congress contradicts and undermines the priorities the U.S. claims to be pursuing toward ending the conflict, securing the release of the hostages, and protecting Palestinians civilians. This is a time to pressure Netanyahu, not to honor him as he continues to defy nearly everything the U.S. government has asked of him.”
The rationale I heard from Democratic leadership staffers was that they felt extending the invitation would encourage Netanyahu to be more supportive of the Biden administration’s peace efforts. Jeffries released a statement supporting that effort and detailing its extent and importance earlier this week.
But others with whom I spoke remain skeptical.
One member of Congress—with whom I spoke on background—said he was concerned the Democrats who were backing the invitation were being played. He recalled that Netanyahu had played politics during prior visits such as his 2015 address to Congress which was derided at the time as an “insult to the intelligence of the United States” and a “stick in the eye” of then-President Barack Obama.
Khanna suggested that a speech was the wrong format for an interaction between Congress and the Israeli leader at this juncture. He suggested, “The invitation to PM Netanyahu should be for honest dialogue with Congress, so we can discuss a future two-state solution. It should not be a one-way lecture in the midst of a war where he has continually thumbed his nose at Congress.”
When asked about White House views of the visit, one senior official responded, why ask us, “we certainly didn’t invite him.”
As in 2015, a Netanyahu address to Congress is almost certainly going to end badly.
He is notoriously dishonest. He is openly an advocate for the re-election of former President Donald Trump. He has been resistant to almost all U.S. entreaties with regard to conducting operations in Gaza in the most humane possible ways. He has spoken out of both sides of his mouth regarding the current peace proposal—and has made it absolutely clear he opposes a two-state solution, which is really the sine qua non of having a peace plan that actually leads to peace.
Now, perhaps, Democrats who extended the invitation will have an opportunity to reconsider it. (Indeed, as Khanna argues, all Americans regardless of party should be outraged by the Israeli effort to meddle in U.S. politics.)
In any event, should Netanyahu come to Washington, it is important that he has some frank (and very likely deeply uncomfortable) conversations with senior officials from both Congress and the administration.
Top among those issues addressed should be asking why—at precisely the moment the Biden administration was weathering considerable controversy to provide an unprecedented degree of unwavering support for Israel—the Netanyahu team thought it appropriate to conduct Russian-style active measures against leading officials of their most important ally.
