At least 50 lawmakers will boycott Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on Tuesday, according to Tuesday morning whip counts.
According to The Hill, 56 Congressional Democrats have said they will not attend the speech, which House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) invited Netanyahu to deliver without first consulting the White House. By The Hill’s count, seven Senate Democrats and 46 House Democrats will skip the joint meeting.
According to J Street, a liberal group that advocates for a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, 50 lawmakers have said they will boycott Netanyahu’s address. J Street’s whip count included 49 Democrats and one Republican, Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina.
Between The Hill’s whip count and J Street’s list, 59 lawmakers have said they will not attend Netanyahu’s address.
This post has been updated.
Every single Democrat should boycott Bibi’s speech, and so should any thinking and patriotic Republican – yeah, I know, they don’t exist. Except does anyone know why Walter Jones is boycotting?
Thank you, Al Franken.
I was praying you’d come through and be the mensch I’ve always known you to be.
P.S. All the best to Franni.
I’m not going and without all that much consideration either.
This is nothing more than gamesmanship by Boener and Bibi and attending would only be acquiescing to the preposterous display of impropriety.
They will both go down in infamy for this stunt and damned well should. America and Israel are much greater than these two yahus.
Jones became a big opponent of the Iraq war; given Netanyahu’s role pushing for that debacle and his apparent attempt at a sequel with Iran, that could explain it.
Well, we’re breaking 10% of the Congress at least, so far (so almost 20% of Dems), but I’m hoping a lot more suddenly realize they have to wash their car tomorrow. And at this point it might be better to simply not show without announcing it, so Boehner won’t have time to fill their empty seats with toady GOP staffers. It’s not too late to call your rep/senators and make your feelings known.
And do check out J Street; they’re planning to run ads defending the no-shows against the scurrilous crap the right’s about to sling at them.
“56 lawmakers have said they will not attend”
Add several dozen conservatives who’d just like to humiliate Boehner again…