As they did before Indian Prime Minister Modi addressed a joint session of Congress last month, members of the far-Left Squad announced last week that they would not be in attendance when Israeli President Isaac Herzog addresses Congress on Wednesday.
Newsmax reported on Wednesday that Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar announced on Twitter that she was skipping Herzog’s speech.
In her Twitter thread, Omar said there was “no way in hell” she would attend a speech “from a President whose country has banned me” and refused to let fellow Squad member Rashida Tlaib into the country “to see her grandma.”
In her thread, Omar blasted the “extreme” right-wing Israeli government over its alleged “judicial coup” and accused Israel of being solely responsible for “the deadliest year” in the West Bank.
Then last Thursday, fellow Squad members Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman also said that they would boycott Herzog’s speech, according to Haaretz.
In a tweet last Thursday, Cori Bush accused the Israeli government of “enforcing an apartheid state” and “abusing the rights of Palestinians.” Bush added that Congress should not give a “platform to the President of a country that shows no respect for human rights.”
Bowman told Axios that he would boycott to protest Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
Several other anti-Israel Democrats, including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are also expected to boycott Herzog’s speech.
But this week’s boycott pales in comparison to the one launched by Congressional Democrats when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke out against the Iran nuclear deal during a joint session of Congress in 2015. A total of 58 Democrats refused to attend Netanyahu’s address.
President Herzog is scheduled to visit the White House on Tuesday to meet with President Biden and Vice President Harris. He will address the joint session of Congress on Wednesday.
