From the Liveblog of
Friday, July 19, 2024
Biden aide: PM’s speech to Congress next week won’t look like one he gave in 2015
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says he expects Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of Congress next week will not look like the one the premier gave in 2015.
That speech was marred by controversy after it was organized by then-Israeli ambassador to the US and current Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer with then-Republican House speaker John Boehner behind the back of then-president Barack Obama so that Netanyahu could lobby against the Iran nuclear deal being advanced by the administration.
The speech drove a wedge between Israel and the Democratic party with nearly 60 Democrats boycotting the speech. It is still cited today by some left-leaning lawmakers as having caused longstanding harm to the bipartisan nature of the US-Israel relationship.
An even larger number of Democrats are expected to boycott this speech, as Netanyahu comes to Washington leading what is largely considered the most right-wing government in Israel’s history — one that flatly rejects a two-state solution, which the Biden administration is still seeking to advance.
Still, Sullivan says, “Our expectation is that his speech will be one that doesn’t look like 2015. It will look like what it should in the circumstances of today. That is how the US and Israel are trying together to face down a terrorist threat, [how we’re] coordinat[ing] together on the regional challenges that both of our countries are facing and how we’re continuing to work toward the ceasefire and hostage deal.”
When Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi were in Washington last week, they “gave us a broad preview of what the prime minister is intending to say in his speech,” Sullivan says.
“They said he’s intending to reinforce a set of themes and arguments that are not at odds or in contradiction to our policy, but they’re going to keep working [on] that speech until the very last minute, just like we do on our side.”
While he acknowledges that the US won’t receive a copy of the speech ahead of time, Sullivan says, “I expect to have constructive conversations with the Israeli government in the days leading up to the speech.”
