Vice President Kamala Harris won’t be attending Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech during a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday, with about 30 federal lawmakers also not planning to attend.
Netanyahu is expected to speak about the ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the effort to free the remaining Israeli and American hostages who were abducted on Oct. 7 of last year.
Harris will not be present for Netanyahu’s speech because the presumptive Democrat Party nominee for president is on the campaign trail, reported CNBC.
Usually, the vice president presides over joint sessions of Congress, like the Netanyahu speech, making Harris’ absence from the official event “a conspicuous departure,” according to CNBC.
Republican vice presidential hopeful Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio will also not be attending Netanyahu’s speech due to obligations related to the Trump presidential campaign.
Harris has been criticized by some Israeli officials for her absence, with them telling The Telegraph that they consider it evidence that she is “unable to distinguish between good and evil” and that skipping the speech is “not a way to treat an ally.”
Nevertheless, according to the Biden administration, Harris will meet with Netanyahu on Thursday, while President Joe Biden will also speak with him at a separate meeting tomorrow.
Last month, it was announced that Netanyahu would address Congress for a fourth time, making him the world leader to do so the most number of times in the United States. Previously, Netanyahu had tied the record with former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at three times.
“I am very moved to have the privilege of representing Israel before both Houses of Congress and to present the truth about our just war against those who seek to destroy us to the representatives of the American people and the entire world,” Netanyahu stated at the time.
The invitation to speak came courtesy of a bipartisan letter signed by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
“We join the State of Israel in your struggle against terror, especially as Hamas continues to hold American and Israeli citizens captive and its leaders jeopardize regional security,” stated the letter.
