Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer met Wednesday with Jewish Democrats on the Hill as tensions over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress continued to escalate, according to Politico.
Politico reported that Dermer met for an hour with Reps. Nita Lowey (D-NY), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Sander Levin (D-MI), Steve Israel (D-NY), Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) in Israel’s office.
The meeting came amid reports that dozens of congressional Democrats were considering a boycott of Netanyahu’s March 3 speech, arranged by Dermer and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) without consulting the White House.
According to Politico, the Democrats told Dermer that they were unhappy about the speech and the difficult position it put them in, balancing their support for the Jewish state with the partisan concerns raised by the speech.
The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent reported earlier Wednesday that Jewish Democrats in the House had considered putting out a statement calling for Netanyahu’s speech to be delayed. But they couldn’t agree on what it should say.
