Netanyahu set to address Congress; some Minnesota members among Democrats opting out

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, and several Minnesotans in Congress will join fellow Democrats in skipping the speech as the war between Israel and Hamas wages on in Gaza.

“Netanyahu’s a war criminal. I don’t think he deserves to have the ability to have a joint session,” Rep. Ilhan Omar told the Star Tribune.

Netanyahu’s visit comes as the Israeli-Hamas conflict affects U.S. political races up and down the ballot this year. In April, all but one of Minnesota’s 10 members of Congress voted to provide millions in aid to Israel. The exception was Omar, a staunch critic of Israel and the war.

Minnesota’s four Republican U.S. House members will attend Netanyahu’s speech on Wednesday, as will two of the four Democratic House members. Omar is not attending, and U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, another frequent Israel critic, said she would watch from her office.

Reps. Dean Phillips and Angie Craig plan to attend. Representatives of Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith did not respond to a query about their plans. Vice President Kamala Harris, who presides over the Senate, is skipping it, but has said she might meet with Netanyahu privately.

Omar also did not attend Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s joint address to Congress last year. Though she will not go to Wednesday’s speech, Omar said she will not protest it. Instead, she is giving her ticket to a family member of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza.

“It denigrates the respect of both chambers and I think it is really completely disrespectful and heartbreaking, both to Palestinian Americans and Americans, who are held hostage that he’s refused to do everything that he can to negotiate the release,” Omar said.

“The Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023, were a heinous act that cannot ever be excused. Israel has the right to self-defense. However, this speech is not about the survival of Israel, it’s about Prime Minister Netanyahu’s domestic political survival,” McCollum said in a statement.

Phillips plans to bring Leat Corrine Unger as his guest, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen whose cousin Omer Shem Tov was taken hostage by Hamas at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7.

“While I do not agree with all of the Prime Minister’s policy positions, I feel it is important to attend his address to show my strong support for our ally, Israel. I’ll keep pushing for solutions to bring the remaining hostages home, end the conflict in the Middle East and get us closer to a two-state solution that will help ensure a lasting peace in the region,” Craig said in a prepared statement.

The war in Gaza has become a wedge issue in the election and has put some Democrats in a difficult position with voters.

Nearly 46,000 Minnesotans voted “uncommitted” during the presidential primary, one of the highest percentages in the country, in support of a campaign protesting Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza.

Republicans have been more uniform in their support for Israel. Rep. Pete Stauber said in a prepared statement that sitting out Netanyahu’s speech would “embolden terrorists like Hamas and weaken our international standing.”