US Democrat Nancy Pelosi slams Netanyahu's Congress invite as 'wrong'

Former US House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, condemned the invitation for Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to address Congress in July, calling it “wrong” and “sad”.

During the interview with CNN yesterday, she also criticised Netanyahu for obstructing efforts to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

When asked if she would have extended the invitation if she were still Speaker, Pelosi responded, “Absolutely not”, adding that it would “invite more of what we’ve seen regarding discontent among our people”.

“Let’s try to have a two-state solution to make peace in the region rather than coming to the Capitol to draw protesters,” she said, referring to the pro-Palestinian rallies held across the US, particularly on college campuses.

Moreover, the Democrat questioned whether Netanyahu would still be Prime Minister by 24 July, the date of his scheduled address.

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She said, “What’s happening? Everything I read is that they’re unhappy about this or unhappy about that. Not just [war cabinet minister] Benny Gantz, but other members of his cabinet.”

Netanyahu has recently faced calls for his resignation from the opposition, who accuse him of prioritising his personal interests over Israel’s. However, Netanyahu has rejected early elections amid the ongoing war and has refused to take responsibility for the “failure” resulting from the Hamas surprise attack on 7 October.

“We all love Israel, October 7 was terrible, Hamas is a terrorist organisation, they are dedicated to the destruction of Israel,” Pelosi said.

“The hostages are not free. The people of Gaza are suffering, we need to help them and not have Netanyahu stand in the way for such a long time,” she added.

According to The Times of Israel, US lawmakers have scheduled Netanyahu’s address to Congress for 24 July.

Nearly 60 Democrats boycotted Netanyahu’s last joint session address in 2015. Given the growing unpopularity of Israel’s war in Gaza among progressives, an even larger number of Democrats are likely to boycott Netanyahu’s speech in July.

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