GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 291

Prime Time In The US

Netanyahu In America

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s much ballyhooed trip to America is coming together, but one prominent politician isn’t planning to attend his speech to the joint session of congress as we read in an article from CBN.com:

The planned Tuesday meetings between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris have been postponed until Thursday. Those key meetings are now scheduled the day after Netanyahu's address to a joint session of Congress.

And who will not attend? The president of the Senate herself:

And Vice President Harris, the probable Democrat nominee for president, will not attend Netanyahu's historic address on Capitol Hill, citing a scheduling conflict. As president of the Senate, she would normally preside over a joint session of Congress.

I find it hard to believe that any other appointment could be more important for someone who is angling to be president especially since it is usually one of her duties. Regardless, the PM knows how important this visit is:

On his departure from Israel, Netanyahu said he wants to emphasize the bond between the two nations. “In this time of war and uncertainty, it's important that Israel's enemies know that America and Israel stand together today, tomorrow, and always," he stated.

Netanyahu is already in the United States now and he took time to tell families of hostages that a deal could be close:

In Washington, the prime minister met with families of some of the Hamas-held hostages. He told them, “We are determined to bring them all back. The conditions to bring them back are ripening, for the simple reason that we are putting very, very strong pressure on Hamas. We are seeing a certain change, and I think this change will grow. We intend to do it – this is a war objective."

Tragically, the Israel Defense Forces announced this week that two more hostages were confirmed murdered by Hamas while in captivity.

The report then spoke with a person who worked with Israel in the past:

CBN News spoke Tuesday with former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.

Concerning the Netanyahu visit, he told us, “The world really hasn't heard from the one person whose job it is to defend the state of Israel and to win this war and this is? Prime Minister Netanyahu.”

Friedman noted the enormity of the moment for Netanyahu:

Friedman added, "What he's trying to accomplish, you know, on this extremely large stage, maybe the biggest stage in the world, is to really explain Israel's position, explain what happened to Israel on October 7th – the trauma this inflicted on the Jewish state, the Jewish people, the inhabitants of Israel, how Israel has done its best to minimize civilian casualties. But (also), how Israel views this as an existential battle – that is, where victory is the only option. And I think, you know, he is uniquely qualified to make that case.”

Trump Meeting Scheduled

The PM knows the political waters he’s swimming in this week as we continue to see in the CBN.com report:

Netanyahu also must navigate a changing and volatile U.S. political landscape.

Friedman noted, “It is a highly charged, you know, time in American politics right now. And, you know, he'll try to thread that needle in a way where he can check in – offer his good wishes, make the case for Israel; but try not to provoke, you know, the kind of political responses that we see too often here, at this time. So it's a tough job. It's a needle-threading job that (Capitol) Hill. But he's pretty good at that. He's done it before.”

And Netanyahu will meet with the Republican candidate for president as well as we read in a report from The Jerusalem Post:

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US President Donald Trump prior to signing the Abraham Accords, normalizing relations between Israel and some of its Middle East neighbors in a strategic realignment of Middle Eastern countries against Iran, during a meeting in the Oval Office.

The visits are part of Netanyahu’s trip to the United States which began Monday night – including a joint address to Congress on Wednesday – which may now extend to over the weekend.

Trump, who is the Republican presidential candidate running for his second term in office, had first invited Netanyahu to meet with him on Wednesday, then switched it to Thursday.

The meeting was then moved to Friday which upset some political opponents back in Israel, who no doubt see political blood in the water on the move:

He then wrote on his Truth Social website that he had moved the meeting date to Friday at Netanyahu’s request. It was a statement that irked the prime minister’s opponents, who noted that a Friday meeting would necessitate an extended stay in the United States through Shabbat during wartime, when he should be pushing to return to Israel as quickly as possible.

Trump used the upcoming meeting to remind people how well things went in his first term as president:

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “During my first term we had Peace and Stability in the Region, even signing the historic Abraham Accords – And we will have it again.” His words referenced his record as president from 2017-2021, in which he secured an agreement from four Arab countries to normalize ties with Israel.

“Just as I have said in discussions with [Ukrainian] President Volodymyr Zelensky and other World Leaders in recent weeks, my PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH Agenda will demonstrate to the World that these horrible deadly wars and violent Conflicts must end,” he wrote.

Even More Politics Being Played

Trump also added that Kamala Harris, who many see as becoming the Democratic presidential candidate isn’t up for the job:

“Millions are dying and Kamala Harris is in no way capable of stopping it,” he added.

The PM has strong ties to both Trump and Biden:

Netanyahu has a strong relationship with both Trump and Biden, the latter running deeper, going back over four decades but it has also been fraught with discord, particularly over Iran, the Gaza war, and the prime minister’s judicial reform program.

The PM is also meeting with people that support him and Israel:

Netanyahu is also set to hold separate meetings with Evangelicals and Jewish leaders in Washington Tuesday night.

The political climate for Netanyahu’s visit is crazy by even normal standards:

He arrived in Washington during a tumultuous week that saw Biden withdrawing from the presidential race, a step that made Harris the presumptive Democratic candidate.

We mentioned Harris not being present for the joint session of congress and now we know why:

She will be campaigning in Indiana on Wednesday and, in an unusual way, will not be present for Netanyahu’s speech to Congress.

So she scheduled a campaign stop, something that could easily be changed, for attending a speech by a world leader she will most likely need to work with if she wins the presidency. The Democrats will fill her role, but not with the person who usually would fill in:

Traditionally, the vice president presides over that event. Her role will be filled by Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, who heads the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, who as president pro tempore (for the time being) normally would preside in the absence of Harris.

But an aide to Murray said she was not attending. Her aides did not immediately respond when asked why.

These maneuvers are interesting but bet your bottom dollar that it is political in design now that we’re in a heated election season. Netanyahu is a political lightning rod now and people are being careful to be close to him especially if it means losing votes. The article ends by noting what we already know:

Netanyahu’s visit to Washington to address Congress was orchestrated by the legislature’s Republican leaders, who have accused Biden, a Democrat, of showing insufficient support for Israel, despite the billions of dollars in US assistance sent during its war in Gaza.