Tuesday, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) slammed Vice President Kamala Harris for refusing to preside over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress. Ricketts made the comments while on a conference call with Nebraska media.
“Israel is our strongest and closest ally in the Middle East,” Ricketts said. “It’s in our mutual interest to provide Israel with the support it needs to destroy Hamas and secure the release of the remaining hostages. Yet the Biden-Harris administration has repeatedly appeased the radical pro-Hamas elements of their base.”
“In fact, Vice President Harris – whose only constitutional duty is to preside over the Senate – won’t be attending his speech,” Ricketts continued. “Their actions have consistently undermined Israel’s democratically elected government. This is not how America should treat its allies.”
You can hear Ricketts’ entire speech with Nebraska media by clicking here.
Ricketts concluded by saying he looked forward to hearing Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress Wednesday afternoon.
Congress members on the left side of the aisle, however, were less enthusiastic.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, for example stated she would not be attending the speech as well due to Netanyahu being a “war criminal” for his conduct in the Israel-Hamas War which has led to thousands of deaths on both sides in the Gaza strip.
Many other Democratic members will also be absent from the speech and it remains to be seen what kind of bipartisan support Netanyahu can drum up because of it. Especially when that is his intention.
“I will seek to anchor the bipartisan support that is so important for Israel” the Prime Minister stated just before leaving Israel for Washington on Tuesday.