Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he felt obligated to attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s joint address to Congress last week but did not feel it necessary to shake the leader’s hand.
“I went to this speech because the relationship between Israel and America is ironclad, and I wanted to show that,” Schumer said when asked why he did not shake Netanyahu’s hand in a Sunday interview with Robert Costa on CBS News’s Face the Nation. “But at the same time, as everyone knows, I have serious disagreements with the way Benjamin Netanyahu has conducted these policies.”
Netanyahu’s speech before Congress on Wednesday was received well by most of the attendees but also prompted backlash from top Democrats and pro-Palestinian protesters outside the U.S. Capitol. Over half of the Democratic conferences in both the Senate and House did not attend his speech, boycotting due to Israel’s methods of fighting its war against Hamas in Gaza.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), in particular, expressed disappointment in Netanyahu’s address, calling it “by far the worst presentation of any foreign dignitary invited and honored with the privilege of addressing the Congress of the United States.” Asked on Sunday about Pelosi’s comments, Schumer said the relationship between Israel and the U.S. should not rely on one leader.
“As I’ve said, I wanted to show our ironclad commitment to Israel that transcends any one prime minister or any one president,” Schumer said. “No matter how much you might disagree with that prime minister.”
During Netanyahu’s speech, several people attending the speech in the House chamber were arrested for wearing “Seal the Deal NOW” yellow shirts. In total, 23 people were arrested by law enforcement for engaging in various protests in response to Netanyahu’s presence in Washington, D.C. At one point, a protest at Union Station turned tense after demonstrators tore down the American flag, burned it on the ground, and raised Palestinian flags outside the Metro station.
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At least 11 of the 23 protesters have had their misdemeanor charges dropped as of Thursday evening. Additionally, at least seven people charged by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington were released pending their next court hearing, according to Washington Superior Court records obtained by the Washington Examiner.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the only Palestinian American in Congress, attended Netanyahu’s address despite many of her fellow progressive “Squad” Democrat colleagues boycotting and attending alternate programs and meetings. She attended wearing a keffiyeh, a symbol of Palestinian nationalism, and held a sign that said “War Criminal” on one side and “Guilty of Genocide” on the other.
