In response to the address Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered to Congress Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Bill Foster denounced the leader’s actions in Israel’s war in Gaza as “incompetent, self-destructive and anti-democratic.”
The Naperville Democrat attended the speech — which prompted boycotts by many top Democratic lawmakers and drew thousands to the U.S. Capitol to protest Israel’s war with Hamas — out of respect “for the country of Israel and its people at a particularly challenging moment,” he said in a statement following the address.
His attendance did not signal support for Netanyahu or his policies, he said.
“While I support Israel’s right to defend itself, including dismantling Hamas and taking measures to ensure the safety of Israeli citizens, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza has been disastrous,” Foster said in his statement.
“The manner in which the Israeli government has conducted this war has led to an unacceptable civilian death toll, an avoidable humanitarian crisis, a tragic loss of Israel’s standing in the world, and a nearly complete failure to achieve its avowed goal of safely freeing all the hostages,” he said.
Since war broke out in the Gaza Strip nine months ago, sparked by Hamas’ invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which some 1,200 people were killed, more than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between Palestinian civilians and combatants in its death toll.
As conflict drags on, a humanitarian crisis has unfolded in Gaza. Meanwhile, some 120 hostages are still being held in Gaza, a third of whom Israeli authorities believe are dead.
In his address to Congress Wednesday, Netanyahu vowed to press on with the war until they achieve “total victory.” He received a bipartisan standing ovation before speaking.
However, more than 50 Democrats and political independent Bernie Sanders opted to boycott Netanyahu’s speech, including a number of Illinois lawmakers.
Rep. Sean Casten, of Downers Grove, released a statement Tuesday announcing that he would not be attending the address.
In it, he criticized Netanyahu for prioritizing “his own power and the interests of his far-right coalition over the interests of the Israeli people.” He added that the Israeli leader has “shown no commitment to creating the kind of dignity and long-term peace for the Palestinian people that is essential for long-term regional security.”
Instead of attending Netanyahu’s speech, Casten said he would be participating in a conversation with Israelis who still have loved ones being held hostage by Hamas.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin also announced he would not be attending, saying Tuesday that, “I will stand by Israel, but I will not stand and cheer its current prime minister.”
Other lawmakers notably absent included Vice President Kamala Harris, who was in Indianapolis Wednesday to give the keynote address at the historically Black Zeta Phi Beta sorority’s biennial convention.
Netanyahu was set to meet separately with Harris and President Joe Biden on Thursday, and with former President Donald Trump on Friday.
The Associated Press contributed.
