Netanya-Who? Washington gives Israeli leader the cold shoulder

It’s Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's first full day in Washington this week, and his arrival has been mostly met with eye rolls and shoulder shrugs on Capitol Hill.

Netanyahu will address Congress Wednesday afternoon, a monumental event that would normally take up the political oxygen in Washington in the weeks leading up. An appearance by a controversial far-right leader, widely chastised internationally for his handling of Israel’s devastating war against Hamas militants in Gaza, has all the ingredients ripe for attention.

But it appears Netanyahu has had very little to do in Washington during his visit so far. Some aides on both sides of the aisle needed to be reminded that the leader was even in town.

“I had someone ask me what I thought Netanyahu would say in his speech and I had to stop and think for a minute to realize that was this week. I had completely forgotten it was happening,” said a senior House aide.

Because of the mind-boggling news cycle — one U.S. presidential candidate was almost killed while another dropped out of the race a week later — Netanyahu “hasn’t really been able to get the traction and the airtime they would have expected,” another House aide added.

A third aide in the Senate underscored the impact the news cycle has had, saying that Netanyahu’s visit is “barely registering” on the Hill. All were granted anonymity to speak candidly.

Outside the Watergate Hotel, where Netanyahu is staying, a POLITICO reporter noticed two rings of fences put up, drones buzzing overhead, a mass redirection of traffic, multiple security checkpoints and closed roads. According to posts on X, a spattering of pro-Palestinian protestors gathered outside the Watergate complex on Tuesday calling for Netanyahu’s arrest.

President Joe Biden will meet with Netanyahu on Thursday, the prime minister’s office said, after Biden postponed their meeting scheduled for Tuesday. It’s unclear when Vice President Kamala Harris — who isn’t attending Netanyahu’s address — will meet with him. Netanyahu will meet with Donald Trump in Florida on Friday, the former president said on Truth Social on Tuesday.

On Capitol Hill, Democratic lawmakers weighed whether or not to attend the address, while Republicans brainstormed how they’d show support for the embattled leader. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a staunch critic of the Biden administration’s Israel policies, said Tuesday that he won’t attend the address.

“I refuse to be a political prop in this act of deception because he's not the great guardian of the U.S.-Israel relationship,” Van Hollen told a small group of reporters in his office, days after returning from a trip to the Middle East.

A group of congressional Democrats, including Van Hollen and several others who plan to boycott Netanyahu’s speech, plan to meet on Wednesday with families of Israeli hostages.

“The issue is some of us, including myself, are not going to attend the speech but want [it to be] understood that this is not about Israel, it’s not about the Israel people,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, (D-Conn.), one of the lawmakers leading the effort, told POLITICO. “Every fiber of our bodies wants to get those hostages back.”

Van Hollen told reporters he doesn’t want to show support for Netanyahu when his hardline policies and partners like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir are “sabotaging” U.S.-Israeli relations.

Netanyahu, who met with the families after arriving in the U.S. on Monday, is also facing political pressure at home to finalize a deal for the release of the captives and a cease-fire with Hamas.

Van Hollen said that in his previous meetings with the relatives of hostages in Israel, they were disappointed that Netanyahu “has not prioritized returning hostages. While I was there, there were protests in the street saying, don’t go speak to a joint session of Congress, focus on releasing the hostages.”

As of Tuesday morning, Netanyahu didn’t have plans to meet with key foreign policy lawmakers: Rep. Gregory Meeks, the House Foreign Affairs Committee's top Democrat, said he is open to a meeting with him. The office of the panel’s chair, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), said he would be part of a group of lawmakers welcoming the prime minister and meeting with him afterward but wasn’t currently aware of other separate meetings.

Families of the American hostages being held in Gaza are putting immense pressure on the prime minister to secure a cease-fire deal with Hamas militants and bring home the hostages by the end of the week. If he doesn’t succeed, they said in a joint statement, it would “constitute an abject failure of his trip.”

Liz Naftali — the great aunt of Abigail Edan, who was one of the Americans released during the pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas — told Netanyahu during an hour-and-a-half-long meeting on Monday that he must call for a deal during his address.

“This is the time to make this deal,” she told POLITICO in between meetings with numerous lawmakers on the Hill. “If we do not capture this moment, these hostages may not come home.”

The House Foreign Affairs Committee hosted a roundtable with the families on Tuesday, after which McCaul condemned Harris and congressional Democrats over their plans to skip the speech, arguing the security situation Netanyahu will speak about impacts the U.S.

“Case in point — the committee heard from the families of American hostages still being held by Hamas terrorists this morning,” he said in a statement. “We need to show the world our united determination to eradicate terrorism and bring home all of the hostages. I hope my colleagues will reconsider and attend this important address.”

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