Rashida Tlaib Slams ‘Utterly Disgraceful’ Democratic Leaders for Inviting ‘War Criminal’ Netanyahu to Address Congress

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) ripped Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the congressional leaders – including those in her party – who invited him to speak to a joint session of Congress.

Netanyahu will address American lawmakers on Wednesday, about 10 months after the Oct. 7 attacks against Israel and the beginning of the country’s subsequent war in Gaza. In response to the killings of 1,200 of its citizens, Israel’s military campaign has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians. During this time, President Joe Biden has continued sending arms to the country over the objections of the progressive members of his party, including Tlaib.

The prime minister is wildly unpopular in Israel, but will receive a mostly warm welcome from the U.S. Congress, which during previous addresses gave Netanyahu gobsmacking amounts of standing ovations .

“Netanyahu is a war criminal committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” tweeted Tlaib, who is the only Palestinian American member of Congress. “It is utterly disgraceful that leaders from both parties have invited him to address Congress. He should be arrested and sent to the International Criminal Court.”

In a subsequent tweet, she linked to a longer statement .

“Make no mistake: this event is a celebration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,” Tlaib wrote. “It is a sad day for our democracy when my colleagues will smile for a photo op with a man who is actively committing genocide.”

In May, Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) signaled that he would join Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in writing to Netanyahu to invite him to address Congress. Schumer did so just six weeks after calling for Israel to hold new elections so the prime minister could be removed from office. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) also eventually invited Netanyahu to speak to Congress.