Prime Minister Netanyahu, as an Israeli citizen, I urge you not to accept Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s invitation to address a joint session of Congress in Washington. I believe it is not in Israel’s best interest for our Prime Minister to address a polarized Congress in the run up to a presidential election.
You may recall that you did this once during the Obama Administration. In March 2015, you visited Washington to explain to the U.S. Congress why the United States should not move forward with the Iran Nuclear Deal (officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA)) that the Obama Administration was seeking to sign with the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI).
During that session, you explained in precise detail, as only you could at the time, all of the pros and cons of the agreement and why the United States and the world would be disadvantaged if it were to go into effect.
US rhetoric is useless
It was a compelling argument, and you were right on every point, but in the end it amounted to nothing.
Besides the fact that the US ended up going ahead with the deal, Israel made many enemies in Washington as a result.
As you may recall, several leading Democrats chose to boycott Congress in solidarity with the president. President Obama himself at the time was not very happy that a top ally stood at the podium of the U.S. Congress and criticized the plan that his country had negotiated.
A few weeks ago, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was as unhappy as we were when he stood at the Senate podium and told the world that you were an obstacle to peace in the Middle East and needed to be replaced. I’m sure you weren’t very happy about it. You called it “brazen,” and it was, but for you to go to the United States and do it again would be brazen.
Mr. Speaker, this is the prime minister of the State of Israel. You know that America is much more polarized today than it was nine years ago when you last walked down the red carpet, welcomed by House floor staff to the assembled people with the announcement, “Mr. Speaker, this is the prime minister of the State of Israel.”
In today’s world, you would be wading through a cauldron of constant uncertainty, where the majority party does not have enough votes to pass legislation without the support of the opposition party. You have been invited to be the third majority speaker of this session, an unprecedented situation in the history of the United States Congress. And, of course, President Joe Biden and many Democrats would view you as ungrateful for the robust military logistical support the United States has given us since October 7th, and continues to give us, which has enabled us to continue the war, despite our occasional disagreements.
No doubt, if we accept the invitation, we will go to great lengths to convince the US that the current protests are not against Israel, but are designed to destroy Western democratic values. We will emphasize that Israel is merely a pretext for unrest, and that we are the ultimate canary in the coal mine, a convenient pretext for what the enemies of democracy have been planning for years.
Of course, you’d be right.
But do you really believe that the powers that be don’t already get it? Of course they do, and to their credit, the evangelical community has been making this point relentlessly for months, and frankly, they’re in a better position to make this case than we are. So we’re going to let them do that, and we’re going to stay out of the domestic policy fight.
Finally, if you decide to go, you will be seen by both Republicans and Democrats as trying to support former President Trump’s campaign, which may be your intention because you believe that former President Trump will return to office and you want him to be forgiven for the sin of congratulating President Biden on his victory in the 2020 presidential election.
But what if Biden wins? What will you do then? And how much further damage will be done to the relationship?
I know how tempting it would be to accept the invitation, walk down the red carpet, and receive standing ovation after standing ovation. It would certainly fill your ego. But it could seriously damage Israel. And if relations deteriorate, we, who will bear the brunt, should not need to help that process.
My suggestion? Stay where you need to be, keep your eyes on the goals you outlined on October 8 but have yet to achieve, and stay out of US domestic policy.
Our record on self-government is not good enough for us to take it upon ourselves to tell our allies how to run their government. A little humility would be a welcome substitute for our arrogance.
The author is CEO of Atid EDI Ltd., an international business development consultancy, and is also founder and president of the American Association of State Officials (ASOA), past national president of the Association of American Canadians in Israel (AACI), and past president of the Pardes Jewish Institute.
