Dem
51
GOP
49
Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in the U.S. on Monday and, like a Vegas lounge act, he'll be here all week. Thus far, his trip has not been especially productive.
To start, when the Israeli PM arrived in the U.S., there were no dignitaries there to greet him. The White House doesn't much like him, and the Republicans—who are the ones who invited him to come to speak to Congress—apparently did not see fit to send a delegation. We don't know exactly why that is, although there are some people on the Hill who say that with all the drama in domestic politics, they kinda forgot he was coming.
On the other hand, there are some people who did not forget the PM, namely the anti-Israel protesters. Netanyahu WAS greeted by a group of THEM at the airport, and the demonstrators will be out in force when he addresses a joint session of Congress today.
Netanyahu's speech is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET, which is primetime in Israel (they are seven hours ahead). This somewhat suggests that his audience is the people back home, and not so much the people in the United States. There is some speculation that he will announce that a ceasefire in Gaza has been arranged, and that the remaining hostages will be released. If so, then his address will be big news. If not, he might well get swept entirely off the front pages by the Joe Biden address (see above), which will take place 6 hours later.
Speaking of Biden, he has not yet met with Netanyahu. They were supposed to meet yesterday, but the confab was postponed, and may (or may not) take place on Friday. Kamala Harris hasn't met with the PM yet, either. In fact, Netanyahu hasn't met with anyone prominent in Washington, as yet. Surely this is due to all the activity produced by the change in the Democratic ticket. It might also reflect a sense that Israel just got pushed way down the list of issues for 2024, since it's rather less plausible to pin events there on Harris as opposed to blaming them on "Genocide Joe."
Netanyahu is definitely going to meet with Donald Trump; the PM will travel to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring, and to try to mend broken fences, on Friday. Yesterday, Trump posted a letter he received from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, along with his (Trump's) response. In short, the two men spent much verbiage flattering each other, not unlike those cards that Trump exchanged with Kim Jong-Un.
We do not feel knowledgeable enough to figure out what Trump's playing at here. On one hand, his political needs dictate a strongly pro-Israel stance, Palestinians be damned. On the other hand, he's very susceptible to flattery, and does sometimes put the needs of his ego ahead of the needs of his political career. Also, since Trump is angry with Netanyahu, the former president might be trying to send a message to the PM about the price of disloyalty. Whatever is going on, it certainly looks like Netanyahu could have a tougher row to hoe, even with Trump, than he did in years past. (Z)