CNN
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Senior Israeli officials, including former national security officials, academics and business leaders, have sent a scathing letter to U.S. congressional leaders accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to address Congress on Wednesday, of threatening Israeli and American national security.
The letter calls Netanyahu an “existential threat,” says he is selfishly concerned with political survival and is solely responsible for the failure to defeat Hamas in the current war in Gaza. It also focuses on Netanyahu’s current legal troubles, including an indictment on charges of bribery and fraud.
The more than 30 signatories include five former senior officials, including former Mossad spy chief Tamir Pardo, two former top Israeli military officials, and a wide range of other former senior officials from the military, security, diplomatic, legal and business sectors.
Among them are Nobel Prize winner in chemistry Aaron Ciechanover and former Ben-Gurion University presidents Avishai Braverman and Rivka Karmi, as well as billionaire entrepreneur Morris Kahn and former pharmaceutical CEO Jeremy Levin, among other business leaders.
“For decades, [Netanyahu] “It has incited Israelis against each other, undermined the social and national fabric of our nation, severely damaged our defense capabilities, eroded our economy and devastated our international standing,” the letter said.
“Through his commitment to this war, Prime Minister Netanyahu has seriously undermined U.S. national security interests, negatively impacted U.S. policy in the Middle East and beyond, and further endangered Israel,” the report continues.
The letter was sent Tuesday morning to House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Pardo, the former Mossad director, last month called Netanyahu’s invitation a “terrible mistake” and urged parliament to rescind it.
Another signatory, Alon Pincus, who served as Israel’s consul general in New York in the early 2000s, wrote that Netanyahu’s visit to Washington and address to Congress is intended to “deal a blow to Biden and make Israel a larger partisan issue ahead of the November 5 US presidential elections.”
A similar letter was sent to Israel’s president and Knesset speaker in January by Pardo, Pincus and the other signatories of Tuesday’s letter, calling for Netanyahu’s removal from office.
Netanyahu’s visit this week is a highly political affair: The Israeli prime minister has been invited to address Congress by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, but Democrats are threatening to boycott the speech.
“Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal,” independent Sen. Bernie Sanders said in a statement. “He should not be invited to address a joint session of Congress, and I certainly will not attend.”
In March, Schumer, one of Israel’s staunchest allies in Congress and its first Jewish majority leader, called on Netanyahu to resign and to hold new elections in Israel.
Relations between Netanyahu and President Joe Biden have become increasingly strained over the course of the war, now in its 10th month, and there were initial doubts whether Netanyahu would even be able to meet at the White House during the visit.
The two leaders are scheduled to meet in the future, but the timing is fluid due to Biden’s infection with COVID-19.
Details of Netanyahu’s speech remain unclear, but many are wondering whether it will be a repeat of his 2015 address to Congress, in which he slammed the Iran deal brokered by the Obama administration.
The Obama administration was stunned when Netanyahu decided to address Congress after accepting a second invitation from Republican House Speaker John Boehner. Dozens of Democratic lawmakers skipped the speech, as did Vice President Biden, who was traveling at the time.
Typically, the Vice President serves as President of the Senate and occupies a prominent position at the podium.
But Vice President Kamala Harris will also miss Netanyahu’s speech on Wednesday due to travel. Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said Friday he doesn’t expect a repeat of 2015.
“They are [Netanyahu’s team] “He said he was going to reinforce a set of themes and arguments that are consistent with our policy, consistent with U.S. policy, but they will continue to work on that speech right up until the very end, as we will,” Sullivan said at the Aspen Security Forum.
He added that the White House expected Netanyahu to preview “in pretty specific terms” what he was going to say to Biden.
The visit also comes at a critical time in negotiations on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage agreement. U.S. officials have said Netanyahu signed onto the framework proposed by Biden in May, but his critics have accused him of adding specifics that could derail the agreement.
“Netanyahu sabotaged their war strategy [the hostages’] “The administration has blocked releases, prevented important discussions on national strategic objectives for the war, and abandoned the abductees in Gaza,” the letter to Congress said.
Netanyahu has been well known to Americans since he first became prime minister in 1996. Only 35 percent of Americans have a favorable view of him, and his disapproval rating has risen sharply over the past five years, according to a Gallup poll conducted this month. The poll also found that more Americans disapprove of Israel’s military action in Gaza than support it.
With Israel emerging as a partisan issue in U.S. politics, the signatories of Tuesday’s letter warned about how Netanyahu’s visit could affect relations between the two countries.
“We thank you for your continued support and urge you to remain Israel’s staunch ally,” they concluded, “and urge Prime Minister Netanyahu to prioritize Israel’s safety, security and future, and the Israel-U.S. strategic relationship, above his own political and personal interests.”
