President Joe Biden reportedly scrubbed a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to the U.S. for a speech to a joint session of Congress.
The lame-duck leader, who hasn’t been seen in days during which he was toppled by a Democrat coup, reportedly won’t sit down with Netanyahu for what would have been a discussion on the Jewish nation’s war on the Hamas terror organization in Gaza, a conflict that has alienated his party’s rabidly anti-Semitic base.
According to media reports, the 81-year-old will snub the Israeli leader as will president-in-waiting Kamala Harris who won’t preside over his congressional address on Wednesday, being replaced by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Neither Biden nor Harris was present to greet Netanyahu when he arrived in Washington, D.C. on Monday.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in the U.S.
Neither Biden, Harris, nor Blinken were there to greet him.pic.twitter.com/RI89g8ZyLJ
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 22, 2024
The news comes as Biden remains out of sight, hunkered down at his compound in Rehoboth Beach, DE where he’s been holed up since being yanked from the campaign trail in Las Vegas after he allegedly tested positive for COVID last week.
On Sunday, the embattled octogenarian rocked the political world when he abruptly announced that he was ending his reelection campaign and endorsed Harris in a brief letter posted to social media after weeks of refusing to drop out of the race.
Biden has yet to explain his decision to the American people despite his 2020 campaign promises that his would be the most transparent administration in the nation’s history.
On Monday, his physician posted an update on Biden’s condition and that he “continues to perform all of his presidential duties.”
Update on President Biden from
White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor pic.twitter.com/Zd91X7areG— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) July 22, 2024
While it remains unclear whether Biden’s handlers will indeed allow him to meet with Netanyahu because it would be bad optics not to, it has been reported that Harris will even though she won’t be present during his speech.
Tensions also seem to have cooled significantly with congressional Democrats who were furious about Netanyahu’s speech with threats of boycotts and disrespectful protests unbecoming of elected representatives who haven’t hidden their contempt for the leader of the critical Middle East ally.
“I think having one of the most dramatic developments in modern politics over the last few days certainly is taking up a lot of mental space for people,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), the Democratic Party’s ideological thought leader and a vicious critic of Netanyahu.
AOC has said that like VP Harris, she will also snub Netanyahu during the speech and her staff is “looking at the threat assessment” to decide whether she’ll even show up on Capitol Hill on the day that he speaks, according to Axios.
After months of highly organized public protests against Israel, the Gaza conflict has been missing from the headlines with the political situation in the U.S. becoming increasingly chaotic. Republican nominee Donald J. Trump narrowly escaped being killed in an assassination attempt, and there had been weeks of coverage of Biden’s decline and the Nancy Pelosi-led mutiny against him.
“Think of all the consequential things that are moving right now, suddenly Netanyahu coming here seems like an afterthought. There’s no question,” said Rep. Marc Pocan (D-WI) of the Israeli leader’s speech.
Politico reported that Netanyahu has requested a meeting with Trump although it is unclear whether it will actually occur.
- X suspends Twitter’s account for rules violation - January 12, 2026
- Smithsonian unveils new portrait of Trump, removes references to Dem impeachments, J6 - January 12, 2026
- Ted Cruz vows to fight Somali fraud with yet another hearing – do something, bro! - January 10, 2026
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.