[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 23, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5165-S5168]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Israel
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, I come to the floor today, as a strong
supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship, to talk about why it was
such a big mistake to invite Prime Minister Netanyahu to address a
joint session of Congress and why I will not attend his speech
tomorrow. I do not take this decision lightly, and I want to explain my
reasons.
At the outset, I want to underscore the importance of the longtime
partnership between the people of the United States and the people of
Israel. After the horrors of the Holocaust, the United States led the
effort at the United Nations to advocate for the establishment of a
homeland for the Jewish people. And then, in May 1948, the United
States, under the leadership of President Harry Truman, became the
first country to recognize the State of Israel. And that support--this
solidarity--has held firm for 76 years, through many conflicts.
That was especially true in the immediate aftermath of the vicious
Hamas terror attack on October 7. Ten days later, President Biden
traveled to Jerusalem to embrace the people of Israel and let them know
that we, the United States, stand with them after that brutal massacre
that killed over 1,200 people and seized over 250 hostages.
Those bonds between the people of Israel and the people of the United
States remain strong today. But the actions and words of Prime Minister
Netanyahu and his ultra-right extremist coalition, both before and
since the October 7 attacks, have weakened the ties between the United
States and the Government of Israel.
All of us who care about our partnership, both in America and in
Israel, should understand the enormous damage that Prime Minister
Netanyahu and his current extremist government coalition are doing to
our relationship and to Israel's standing in the world.
So it sends a terrible message to bring him here now to address a
joint session of Congress. While we warmly welcomed President Herzog's
speech to Congress just over a year ago, Prime Minister Netanyahu
remains the leader of the most extreme rightwing government coalition
in the history of Israel. It is the coalition he personally assembled
in a desperate bid to regain power and to prevent a possible prison
sentence.
To do that, he formed a government with certain individuals who had
previously been on the dangerous, most extreme fringes of Israeli
politics and considered totally unfit to govern. They include the likes
of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, both unabashed racists and religious bigots.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak referred to them ``as the
racist messianic fanatics with whom Netanyahu has cast his lot.''
That is former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
In fact, they are the ideological successors to the extremist Meir
Kahane, who wanted to ban relations between Jews and non-Jews and expel
all Palestinians. Kahane was banned by the Israeli Supreme Court from
participating in Israeli politics decades ago, and his party was placed
on the U.S. Terror Watchlist.
But in 2023, Prime Minister Netanyahu gave those ideological
descendants of Meir Kahane--Ben-Gvir and Smotrich--key powerful
government positions. These are the individuals who now control Prime
Minister Netanyahu's political fate, who threatened to withdraw their
support and bring down his government if he fails to do their bidding.
And, in many ways, they are now calling the shots when it comes to the
policy decisions of the Government of Israel--in Israel, in the West
Bank, and in Gaza. They have also made it abundantly clear that, when
it comes to the war in Gaza, they do not prioritize the safe return of
all the hostages, including American citizens taken by Hamas.
President Biden has prioritized the safe return of all the hostages.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has not. He continues to put his own political
survival first, above the interests of the people of Israel and those
American citizens.
I renew my call for an immediate cease-fire and the return of all the
hostages.
Just last Friday, 4 days ago, during a visit to Israel, I met with
Israeli families, including American citizens, whose loved ones had
been brutally murdered by Hamas on October 7. Some of them lost
parents; others lost siblings or children. All of them--all of them--
have faced tremendous personal trauma and suffering.
So I was shocked to learn that none of the family members that I met
with had heard from Prime Minister Netanyahu or any member of his
government since that horrific Hamas attack. That is hard to fathom.
Neither the Prime Minister nor any member of his government had reached
out to them to offer a helping hand.
So I say to Prime Minister Netanyahu: Before you come speak to
Members of Congress, go meet with the families I saw whose loved ones
were murdered on October 7.
I also met, in Tel Aviv, this past Friday, with families whose loved
ones were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, including American citizens.
Some of them had their loved ones returned safely as a part of the
agreement reached last November. Others said they have been told that
their loved ones have died. Most held out hope that their loved ones
were still alive. All of those that I met with expressed deep, deep
disappointment in the fact that Prime Minister Netanyahu has not
prioritized the safe and swift return of the remaining hostages.
Recent polls indicate that large swaths of the Israeli people--over
70 percent--want Prime Minister Netanyahu to resign now or when the war
ends, and that is certainly what I heard from many Israelis during my
visit to Israel last week. They saw the Prime Minister's invitation to
address a joint session of Congress as a political stunt to help him in
his efforts to escape legal and political accountability for his
actions and inactions, including the massive intelligence failure that
allowed the October 7 attack to have such devastating consequences.
That sentiment that I heard expressed directly was captured by a
headline in the Jerusalem Post on the same day I met with those
families. That headline reads:
Protesters call on Netanyahu to delay flight to US until
hostage deal is closed.
The protesters stated that Prime Minister Netanyahu ``is running away
from the hostage families, running away from a deal, running away from
decisions about the day after.'' I agree with those families.
What I heard directly from many Israelis was also described by a
piece written by a well-known and well-regarded Israeli writer and
journalist by the name of Amir Tibon. Amir Tibon's family survived
October 7 by hiding for hours--hours--huddled in darkness inside a safe
room of their family home until his father arrived at the kibbutz and
heroically saved them.
Here is what Amir wrote in the Haaretz newspaper back on June 2:
There is nothing ``pro-Israel'' about this invitation. It
is not ``pro-Israel'' to side with Netanyahu's party against
the brave families of the hostages, who are fighting to
secure a deal for their release.
``It is not `pro-Israel,' '' he wrote, ``to help Netanyahu address
Congress while knowing that since October 7th he has not found the time
to speak with any of the Israeli communities invaded by Hamas under his
watch.''
Or take this June 26 op-ed in the New York Times, entitled ``We Are
Israelis
[[Page S5166]]
Calling on Congress to Disinvite Netanyahu.'' It is written by five
individuals, and I think it is worth the Senate knowing their
backgrounds. They are David Harel, the president of the Israel Academy
of Sciences and Humanities; Tamir Pardo, the former director of Mossad,
Israel's foreign intelligence services; Talia Sasson, former director
of the Special Tasks Department in Israel's State Attorney's Office;
Ehud Barak, former Israeli Prime Minister; Aaron Ciechanover, Nobel
Prize winner in chemistry; and David Grossman, renowned novelist and
essayist.
Here is what they say:
Mr. Netanyahu's appearance in Washington will not represent
the State of Israel and its citizens, and it will reward his
scandalous and destructive conduct toward our country.
They go on to say:
Giving Mr. Netanyahu this stage in Washington will all but
dismiss the rage and pain of his people, as expressed in the
demonstrations throughout the country. American lawmakers
should not let that happen. They should ask Mr. Netanyahu to
stay home.
Well, Mr. Netanyahu is not staying home--he is coming here--but I
will respect those voices and stay away from the joint session and urge
my colleagues to do the same.
I will also not attend Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech for another
reason--because his actions and those of his extremist coalition
represent a terrible betrayal of our shared values and our shared
interests. Successive Democratic and Republican administrations have
underscored that our bilateral relationship--our special relationship--
is based on shared values.
But make no mistake, Prime Minister Netanyahu and his ultra-rightwing
government do not share those values. As others who have followed and
written about the United States-Israel relationship for decades have
noted, he has done more than anyone to damage the special relationship
between the United States and Israel. The damage is being done, and the
evidence is abundant.
I am going to spend a little time discussing these matters because I
just returned from a trip to the UAE, to Saudi Arabia, to Israel, and
to the West Bank, and I want to share with my colleagues in the Senate
some of my findings.
I am not going to focus today on the war in Gaza. I have said many
times, including on this Senate floor, that Israel not only has the
right but it has the duty to defend itself in the aftermath of the
Hamas massacres and the seizure of hostages on October 7.
I have also repeatedly said that how wars are conducted matters. They
must be conducted according to the rules of war and ensure the required
precautions are taken to protect the lives of innocent civilians.
They must also be conducted in a way that allows innocent civilians
to receive desperately needed humanitarian assistance and medical care.
As of today, more than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed, over half
of them women and children. For those who doubt those numbers, you are
right: Credible accounts like estimates from Johns Hopkins University
in my State of Maryland and The Lancet medical journal project the
overall death toll is likely much higher.
Ten months into this war, the humanitarian situation remains
catastrophic. Access to basic humanitarian needs--water, food,
medicine, shelter, and basic sanitation--is punishingly scarce. Open
sewers are running through the streets, and polio was recently detected
in the wastewater in Gaza. There is a real risk of the outbreak of
cholera.
Gaza is a wasteland as anybody can see from the photographs. We must
end this war, and we must bring all the hostages safely home. And in
order to prevent any more October 7s, we must both end the military
threat from Hamas and create hope for a better future for the
overwhelming majority of the Palestinian people who have nothing to do
with Hamas.
I was deeply moved by the humanity and strength of the Israeli
families whom I met with just last Friday who lost loved ones on
October 7. They--they--stress the importance of distinguishing between
the Hamas terrorists and the vast majority of the Palestinian people in
both Gaza and the West Bank who have nothing to do with Hamas; and in
the midst of their ongoing, profound grief, they were determined to
find a way forward to achieve peace, security, and dignity for all
people, to find some light at the end of this very, very dark tunnel.
In fact, the families I met with believe strongly that peace and long-
term security for their families and for all Israelis and Palestinians
can only be achieved by securing and ensuring dignity, freedom,
justice, and self-determination for all.
I was inspired by their humanity. I have been similarly inspired by
Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank who are determined to live
in peace despite the terrible personal losses they have suffered.
I wish every American--every American--had the opportunity to hear
directly from these Israelis and these Palestinians.
The United States and most of the world recognize that, in order to
ensure the long-term security of Israelis and Palestinians, both
peoples must enjoy equal measures of dignity and the right of self-
determination. That is why it has long been the policy of the United
States, both under Democratic and Republican administrations, to
support a two-state solution that establishes a viable Palestinian
State alongside the State of Israel, with clear security guarantees for
all. That is the plan President Biden has laid out to light a little
flicker of hope for long-term peace at this very dark time.
President Biden has coupled his call for a two-state solution with
his push for the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi
Arabia and other Arab States that have yet to recognize the State of
Israel. Those actions would also further strengthen Israel's security
and provide greater stability throughout the region.
But how was President Biden's call for a two-state solution--even one
accompanied by a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia--greeted by
Prime Minister Netanyahu? What did the Prime Minister say in response?
He slapped it down; dismissed it entirely.
That was Prime Minister Netanyahu's reaction to the plan presented by
the American President, Joe Biden, who not only visited Jerusalem in
the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attacks but immediately deployed
U.S. carrier groups to the region to deter potential escalation by
Hezbollah and others; the President of the United States who organized
a $14 billion supplemental military assistance package to Israel
despite concerns about the conduct of the war; the President of the
United States who has deployed the U.S. Navy to defend shipping lanes
in the Red Sea from Houthis' attacks; the President of the United
States who, on April 13, deployed American air defenses and engaged
partners in the region to help Israel successfully intercept Iranian
missiles and drones.
Prime Minister Netanyahu and his rightwing coalition continue to
rebuff calls from President Biden and the U.N. Security Council for a
two-state solution.
It is very important to understand what--what--is driving Prime
Minister Netanyahu's opposition to the creation of a Palestinian State
because it is not because it would create an unacceptable security
risk; he knows full well those issues have been addressed on the West
Bank through a demilitarized state. American and Israeli military
experts, including organizations called Commanders for Israel's
Security, have demonstrated that over and over again. No, Prime
Minister Netanyahu's opposition is much more fundamental than that.
It is because he and his extremist allies, like Smotrich and Ben-
Gvir, want the land of the West Bank to be fully incorporated into the
State of Israel. They want to complete their messianic vision of a
Greater Israel that includes all of the West Bank. Indeed, that goal is
plainly written out for all to see in their coalition government
platform. Take a look at it. By their telling, God gave the West Bank
to Israel, and the Palestinians are interlopers there.
In fact, Smotrich has said:
There is no such thing as a Palestinian people.
As former Israeli Prime Minister Olmert has pointed out, the Israeli
right's messianic vision is driving opposition to its two-state
solution and inciting violence against Palestinians on the West Bank.
[[Page S5167]]
And make no mistake about it, the Netanyahu government is working
every day to implement this vision of a Greater Israel by enabling
violent settlers on the West Bank to push Palestinians off their land,
to steal their grazing areas, to destroy their olive groves, and to
establish illegal outposts.
This is all happening in plain sight. I invite my colleagues to go
and see it for themselves. We are all witnessing ongoing settler
violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, including Palestinian
Americans. The consequences of this violence are dire.
Last week, I also visited Ramallah, and I met with Palestinian-
American families whose 17-year-old sons, in separate incidents, were
murdered on the West Bank--each of them shot in the back of the head.
The United States has not been able to obtain from Israeli authorities
information on the status of any investigations, if there are any, into
the killings of these American citizens.
During my trip, I also met in Jerusalem with our U.S. Security
Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. He is a three-
star general. His name is General Fenzel, and he has helped document
the alarming rise in extremist settler violence and land seizures. He
has repeatedly warned that these actions will further inflame an
already explosive situation on the West Bank.
Earlier this month, Israel's top IDF official in the West Bank, Major
General Yehuda Fuchs, in his retirement statement, echoed these
warnings about unchecked extremist settler violence--this very recently
retired Israeli major general--saying:
Unfortunately, in recent months, nationalist crime has
reared its ugly head, and under the auspices of war and the
desire for revenge, it has sown chaos and fear among the
Palestinian residents who did not pose any threat.
The Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, summarized the retiring general's
full remarks in their headline, which read:
In His Retirement Speech, Israel's Top Officer in West Bank
Revealed the Hidden Truth.
General Fuchs' statement is a powerful admission that, while
international attention has been focused in the war in Gaza, the
extremist Netanyahu government, led by Smotrich--who, by the way, in
March 2023, said that Israel should erase the Palestinian village of
Hawara--has accelerated its use of settlers and other mechanisms to
assault Palestinians in the West Bank and seize their lands.
Indeed, according to Israeli human rights groups, the Netanyahu
government has poured gasoline on the fire by approving the largest
land seizure in the West Bank in over three decades, allowing the
proliferation of settlements and connecting illegal outposts with
essential infrastructure.
In June of last year, I raised some of these issues in a meeting in
Jerusalem with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Specifically, Senators
Merkley, Lujan, and I raised the issue of Palestinians in the South
Hebron Hills, who we had met with, who had been attacked by armed
settlers, pushed off their lands, and denied access to their water
wells.
Prime Minister Netanyahu at the time suggested he was unaware of
these incidents, even though they had been already widespread and
reported. He said he would look into the situation and get back to us.
He never did.
I want to applaud the Biden administration for issuing an Executive
order to address the actions by these extremist settlers that, under
the cover of the Netanyahu government, clearly are undermining peace
and stability in the West Bank. I once again call upon the
administration to take urgent action to expand the scope of those
sanctions to cover all entities and individuals who are directly or
indirectly orchestrating these attacks, seizing Palestinian lands, and
breeding a culture of impunity, including Smotrich.
Time is of the essence to prevent the situation from spiraling even
further out of control. These seizures of Palestinian lands in what is
called Area C of the West Bank has been accompanied by a calculated
campaign by this Netanyahu government to undermine the Palestinian
Authority's ability to administer those areas over which it exercises
greater control, the areas known as A and B.
The Netanyahu government, with Smotrich wielding his power as
minister of finance, is financially squeezing the Palestinian Authority
by withholding ever-increasing amounts of their own funds. These are
funds that Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority in
the form of customs duties. It belongs to the Palestinians, and it is
needed to pay for all of the individuals involved in the Palestinian
civil administration on the West Bank, from teachers to healthcare
workers to police to the Palestinian Authority's security forces that,
by the way, the United States helps to train and whose salaries have
now been cut dramatically.
These actions, plus the steep rise in the number of security
checkpoints in the West Bank and the big drop in the number of work
permits for Palestinians in the West Bank to work in Israel, have
significantly constrained movement and are strangling the economy in
the West Bank and contributing to an even more volatile situation.
Secretary Treasurer Yellen has spoken to these issues.
The Netanyahu government knows full well that Smotrich seeks to use
this power to deliberately collapse the Palestinian Authority. He has
expressly stated that goal. He makes no secret about it.
In his retirement speech, General Fuchs also warned about how
reckless that would be, stating that ``the ability of the Central
Command to fulfill its missions also depends on the existence of a
functioning and strong Palestinian Authority, with effective security
mechanisms that maintain law and order.''
You know, the great irony here--the great irony--is that Prime
Minister Netanyahu and his allies are targeting the Palestinian
Authority which has, for over 30 years now, recognized Israel's right
to exist and, with some American assistance, cooperates with Israel in
providing security in parts of the West Bank. Indeed, that cooperation
has been so close that the PA has often been seen by many Palestinians
as collaborating with Israel to maintain the occupation on the West
Bank.
Look, there is no doubt that the Palestinian Authority has many
shortcomings and needs to implement significant reforms to improve
governance, to root out cronyism, and to end the current prisoner
payment system.
During my visit, I met with the newly appointed Palestinian Prime
Minister and the newly appointed Minister of Justice, as well as the
reappointed Ministry of Interior. And under pressure from the United
States and many of their Arab neighbors, they have started to make some
modest but important steps, including progress on a plan to end the
current prisoner payment system.
Still, as you know, the PA continues to suffer from very low levels
of public support. It has not held a presidential or national
legislative election since 2006, and it has been unable to demonstrate
real progress on Palestinian aspirations to end the occupation of the
West Bank.
But importantly--importantly--through all this, it has never
abandoned its recognition of Israel's right to exist. And in stark
contrast to Hamas, the PA seeks to accomplish its goals through
nonviolent means. That is why the United States has said that the PA,
with a lot of support from the United States, the EU, and the Arab
States, should form the nucleus of the governance structure in Gaza
when the war ends there.
But Prime Minister Netanyahu has systematically undermined the
Palestinian Authority, despite its longtime recognition of Israel's
right to exist. And he took, at the same time, steps prior to October 7
that had the effect of helping Hamas sustain control in Gaza, despite
the fact that Hamas, of course, has been dedicated to the destruction
of Israel.
This has been well-documented. We don't have to go over this again on
the Senate floor. But Prime Minister Netanyahu told his fellow Likud
Party members years ago that he facilitated Qatar's payments of
financial support to Hamas in order to foil a two-state solution.
According to Haaretz, he said:
Anyone who wants to prevent the creation of a Palestinian
state needs to support strengthening Hamas. This is part of
our strategy, to divide the Palestinians between those in
Gaza and those in Judea and Samaria.
[[Page S5168]]
He believed that so long as Hamas was a going concern, he could slow
momentum toward a two-state solution.
Yet now Prime Minister Netanyahu wants to claim that implementing a
plan for a two-state solution with the Palestinian Authority would be a
``reward'' or ``gift'' for Hamas.
This is a con game. Everybody knows that Hamas's aim has been to
destroy Israel in order to establish an Islamic State in its place.
Indeed, the split between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority has been
over the PA's recognition of Israel's right to exist and its commitment
to peaceful means to achieve a two-state solution versus Hamas's goal
of one state and its use of violence to pursue those goals.
So Prime Minister Netanyahu has it exactly backward. A real two-state
solution, especially coupled with a normalization agreement with Saudi
Arabia, as President Biden has proposed, would be a strategic defeat
for Hamas; it would be a victory for Israel's long-term security; and
it would be an important signal to the overwhelming majority of
Palestinians who have nothing to do with Hamas and who have pursued a
peaceful but still unfulfilled path toward self-determination.
It is true that a two-state solution would not only be a defeat for
Hamas, it would also be a defeat for Ben Gvir, Smotrich, and
Netanyahu--all of those who pursue maximalist one-state positions. It
would be a defeat for all those who seek to claim all the land between
the river and the sea for themselves.
Let's be clear: Prime Minister Netanyahu may use different language
and tactics, but he has shown that his goal is no different than the
extremist allies he brought into his coalition. In fact, he recently
boasted about his strong opposition to former Prime Minister Rabin's
decision to enter into the Oslo Accords, which were designed to lead to
a two-state solution.
We should remember that Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated by a
rightwing Israeli who saw peace as a threat because he wanted Israel to
have all of the land and opposed Rabin's decision.
Given Prime Minister Netanyahu's misplaced belief that he was
successfully managing Hamas prior to October 7, it is no wonder he
doesn't want to meet face-to-face with the Israeli families who lost
loved ones, whom I spoke to on Friday. Instead, he wants to come to the
United States to convince Israelis that the United States stands with
him personally and supports his words and actions. He repeatedly tells
his fellow Israelis that he knows best how to handle America in an
attempt to boost his very low popularity ratings in Israel.
But the reality is that the actions, words, and policies of Prime
Minister Netanyahu and his extremist partners have weakened the U.S.-
Israel relationship, and we in the U.S. Congress should not be
complicit in his ongoing political deception.
Let me just say that much of Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech here
will likely focus on the very real dangers posed by Iran and its
proxies to Israel and others in the region.
President Biden and the United States understand full well Iran's
malevolent role in the region. We have been working for years to
contain Iranian proxy militias in Iraq.
President Biden deployed our naval vessels to secure shipping lanes
in the Red Sea as the Houthis have launched attacks since the start of
the war in Gaza.
President Biden has deployed aircraft carriers in the early days of
the war to deter escalation by Hezbollah. The Biden administration is,
right now, working around the clock to get Hezbollah to redeploy its
forces north of the Litani River.
And the United States, along with our partners in the region,
provided Israel with substantial help in intercepting Iranian missiles
and drones on April 13.
We understand the existential threat that Iran poses to Israel.
President Biden has made clear--and I agree--that Iran must not be
allowed to develop nuclear weapons.
Anyone who understands the region also understands that certain
groups, like the Houthis and Hamas, while they welcome the support they
receive from Iran--or anyone else for that matter--they are not the
puppets of Iran. They are not controlled by Iran. That is the view of
U.S. intelligence and other officials. They are indigenous movements
that Iran has supported with weapons because of their mutual antagonism
toward Israel. But those two groups would be carrying out attacks with
or without Iranian encouragement. They benefit from Iran's supply of
weapons.
We also understand that Iran supports these groups by
opportunistically exploiting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But to
say that Iran exploits those wounds is not to say they are not real.
One way to help bind those wounds, rather than allowing Iran to
exacerbate them, is to work with those who have long recognized
Israel's right to exist and seek peaceful coexistence, like the
Palestinian Authority, and to address the legitimate aspirations of the
Palestinian people to self-determination.
That is why President Biden and Egypt and Jordan and Saudi Arabia and
the UAE and others in the Arab world work to establish a framework that
ensures the long-term security of Israel by also addressing those
aspirations.
During my recent visit to Saudi Arabia, I met with Crown Prince
Muhammad bin Salman and senior members of his government. They are
interested in reaching a bilateral agreement with the United States on
security and other measures.
Once the war in Gaza ends, they are also willing to support
reconstruction efforts and work toward advancing a normalization
agreement with Israel, so long as Israel is willing to implement an
irreversible plan to achieve a two-state solution. That would
significantly enhance security for Israel in the region.
Unfortunately, Prime Minister Netanyahu has consistently rejected
that approach in favor of the rightwing extremists in his coalition who
want Israel to have all the land from the river to the sea.
We need leaders who are willing to make tough decisions for peace and
security, not those who always put their own political ambitions first.
As former Israeli Prime Minister Barak has stated, instead of urging
Israelis to overcome their fears, Netanyahu is exploiting them, playing
into the hands of his extreme rightwing allies. As Majority Leader
Schumer has said on this Senate floor, there are many obstacles to
peace in the Middle East. One of them is Mr. Netanyahu.
In my recent visit to Israel, I met with many Israelis who believe
that Prime Minister Netanyahu and his dangerous, extremist partners are
leading Israel down a very dangerous path, one that is weakening the
bonds between the United States and the Government of Israel and will
lead to Israel's further isolation. I agree with their assessment.
I will not be party to a spectacle that will inevitably be used to
create the illusion that Prime Minister Netanyahu is the protector of
the U.S.-Israel relationship. He is not. As many hostages' families
have said, it would be better for him to stay at home and prioritize
the release of their loved ones.
Those who really care about the relationship will work to ensure that
it is based on our shared values, and, as the points I made today
reveal, that is not happening right now. The Prime Minister and his
extremist partners are undermining those shared values.
So, Mr. President, while I will continue to fight for a strong U.S.-
Israel relationship based on shared values, I will not attend the joint
session with Prime Minister Netanyahu tomorrow.
I yield the floor.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Iowa.