Jamaal Bowman becomes 2nd Democrat who will skip Israeli president’s speech to Congress
‘I don’t think Israel has gone far enough in protecting and uplifting Palestinian rights and Palestinian lives,’ the progressive New York House rep was quoted as saying
Rep. Jamaal Bowman arrives at the U.S. Capitol, June 22, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images)
(JTA) — New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman has announced that he will join his colleague Ilhan Omar in skipping next week’s address by Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Congress.
Bowman’s office told Haaretz that the progressive Democrat would not attend Herzog’s address.
“I don’t think Israel has gone far enough in protecting and uplifting Palestinian rights and Palestinian lives,” a reporter for the Epoch Times, a right-wing anti-China newspaper, said Bowman told him; the reporter tweeted that several other progressive Democrats had declined to say whether they would attend the speech.
Omar’s boycott pledge preceded the official announcement from the White House that President Joe Biden would meet with Herzog while the Israeli president is in Washington. During the visit next Tuesday, Biden will “reaffirm the ironclad commitment of the United States to Israel’s security” in addition to discussing Israel’s ties with its Arab neighbors and the ongoing danger of Iran, according to the White House’s announcement Thursday afternoon.
The announcement also hints at two of the biggest wedges between the United States and Israel right now, as Israel’s right-wing government advances legislation to weaken the country’s judiciary. “President Biden will stress the importance of our shared democratic values, and discuss ways to advance equal measures of freedom, prosperity, and security for Palestinians and Israelis,” the announcement says.
Herzog’s visit is a symbol of the troubled waters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made no secret of his desire to be invited to Washington, but Biden has said that he is concerned about the judiciary changes and is not planning to invite Netanyahu anytime soon. Herzog’s role is ostensibly nonpartisan, though he has criticized the judiciary proposals, saying that they could spark “a civil war,” and sought to broker a compromise.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
