Calls for boycotts, threats of arrests precede Netanyahu's controversial speech to Congress

July 23 (UPI) -- Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin will preside over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's joint address to Congress on Wednesday as he faces calls to boycott the speech.

The Maryland office of Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, urged the Maryland senator to boycott what the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization referred to as Netanyahu's "war criminal" address to Congress.

"It is deeply troubling that Sen. Cardin would choose to lend legitimacy and support to a war criminal who is responsible for egregious violations of human rights and international law," said CAIR's Maryland Director Zainab Chaudhry.

"Instead of providing a respectable platform to a war criminal engaged in the wholesale slaughter of possibly more than 186,000 civilians, Sen. Cardin and members of Congress must set an example, stand on principle and boycott Netanyahu's address," Chaudhry added.

Netanyahu arrived Monday in Washington, D.C., where he will hold meetings with the Biden administration and will address the joint session of the House and Senate on Wednesday, as he seeks bipartisan support for Israel just days after President Joe Biden announced he would end his re-election bid.

While it is the vice president who typically presides over joint addresses, Vice President Kamala Harris said she will not preside over Netanyahu's address Wednesday due to a campaign event in Indianapolis. Sen. Patty Murray , D-Wash., who is the President pro temper of the Senate, has refused to preside over the address and plans to boycott the speech.

Cardin, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is an orthodox Jew, has been a vocal advocate for Israel since Hamas ' Oct. 7 terror attack and Israel's ongoing war in Gaza .

"It is critical for the international community to remain focused on who perpetrated the Oct. 7th massacre -- Hamas," Cardin said in a committee report , released in May.

"Israel has a right to target Hamas leadership in Gaza, but there is a right way to pursue that goal," Cardin added. "Going into Rafah without a credible plan to deal with the humanitarian situation is not the right way. Any operation must take all measures to protect civilian lives."

On Tuesday, Hamas, Fatah and 12 other Palestinian factions signed a Chinese-brokered unification pact "ending division and strengthening Palestinian unity" following two days of negotiations, according to China's foreign ministry.

As Netanyahu addresses the joint Congress on Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson has warned lawmakers that there will be a " zero-tolerance " policy for anyone who disrupts the speech and that law enforcement "will remove ... offending visitors from the gallery and subject them to arrest."

On Tuesday, hundreds of members of the group Jewish Voice for Peace were arrested during a demonstration inside the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C., according to the group.

"Arrests are beginning as over 400 American Jews refuse to leave Congress, but we won't leave until our government stops arming Israel and ends the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza!" the group wrote Tuesday in a post on X.

Arrests are beginning as over 400 American Jews refuse to leave Congress, but we won't leave until our government STOPS ARMING ISRAEL and ENDS THE GENOCIDE of Palestinians in Gaza! pic.twitter.com/ybVpz7Rgh6 — Jewish Voice for Peace (@jvplive) July 23, 2024

Many lawmakers, including Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are planning to boycott Netanyahu's address Wednesday over Israel's war in Gaza.

"It is a dark day in U.S. history when an authoritarian with warrant requests from the International Criminal Court is allowed to address a joint session of Congress," Ocasio-Cortez wrote Tuesday in a post on X. "I will be boycotting his address."

Following his joint address and meetings in Washington, D.C., Netanyahu will travel to Florida to meet with former President Donald Trump on Friday at Mar-a-Lago. The last time he met with Trump was at the White House in September 2020 to sign the Abraham Accords .

"Looking forward to welcoming Bibi Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach," Trump wrote Tuesday in a post on Truth Social.

"During my first term, we had peace and stability in the region, even signing the historic Abraham Accords -- and we will have it again."

Netanyahu will be the second world leader to meet with Trump in recent weeks. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited the former president at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month. Trump also spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week to discuss ending Ukraine's ongoing wear with Russia.