Senate Democrats Invite Netanyahu To Meeting During Visit

Two senior U.S. Senate Democrats invited Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday to a closed-door meeting with Democratic senators during his upcoming visit to Washington, warning that making U.S.-Israeli relations a partisan political issue could have “lasting repercussions.”

Senators Richard Durbin and Dianne Feinstein extended the invitation “to maintain Israel’s dialogue with both political parties in Congress,” according to a letter to the Israeli leader seen by Reuters.

“This unprecedented move threatens to undermine the important bipartisan approach towards Israel — which as long-standing supporters of Israel troubles us deeply,” Durbin and Feinstein wrote.

“It sacrifices deep and well-established cooperation on Israel for short-term partisan points — something that should never be done with Israeli security and which we fear could have lasting repercussions,” they said.

Although some Democrats have said they would not attend Netanyahu’s speech to the joint meeting of the House of Representatives and Senate, the session proposed by Durbin and Feinstein would be in addition to the address. It is not intended as an alternative, a Durbin aide said.

The two senators have not indicated publicly whether they planned to be at the Israeli leader’s address.

Durbin is the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate. Feinstein, who has been in the Senate since 1992, is the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee and a senior member of the Appropriations and Judiciary committees.

The letter was sent on Monday evening. The Israeli Embassy did not have an immediate response to the invitation.

On Tuesday, U.S Secretary of State John Kerry chided critics of the Iran talks, saying that they don’t know what they are talking about.

“I can’t state this more firmly, the policy is Iran will not get a nuclear weapon. Anyone running around right now, jumping to say we don’t like the deal, or this or that, doesn’t know what the deal is. There is no deal yet.”

“I caution people to wait and see what these negotiations produce. Since 2013 we have been testing whether or not we can achieve that goal diplomatically. I don’t know yet. But it’s the most effective way to solve the problem and we will prove that over the course of these next weeks and months,” Kerry said during a congressional hearing on the department’s budget.

Meanwhile, the prominent public opinion researcher and consultant Frank Luntz conveyed a similar message to Israeli leaders in Yerushalayim on Monday.

The Republican-affiliated Luntz, who has been monitoring Israel’s image on American college campuses for 13 years, had disturbing news for the Jewish Agency Board of Governors and a range of Israeli politicians at the gathering.

Luntz said that the diplomatic rift between Washington and Yerushalayim could seriously affect public perceptions of Israel, especially among the young, The Jerusalem Post reported.

“The Israeli government and elites need to understand that the growing division between the two governments could have horrific consequences on what Americans think of Israel,” Luntz warned. “We may not be able to count on the next generation of American leaders. A loss of American elite support, if it’s not turned around, is a real possibility going forward.”

The warning was based on findings from interviews with more than 800 students at 60  top universities. Some 37 percent of students believe anti-Semitism is a problem on their campus, one third believe their campus is hostile to Israel, and one quarter believe the situation for Jews on their campus is getting worse. He found that many Jewish students shrink from speaking out for Israel.

“Such numbers would have been inconceivable 20 years ago,” he said. “My sense is that we’re losing the battle, and if we’re not careful we’ll lose the war for the hearts and minds of the next generation of American leaders. All our efforts are being swamped by Palestinian and Muslim groups and outsiders, particularly on the Left to delegitimize Israel, and I dare to say it but delegitimization is beginning to work.”

“The Israeli and American people are overwhelmingly on the same side,” he said. “It just doesn’t seem that way because the politics get in the way. The politics are undermining the policy and that is what is dangerous.”

Zionist Camp Leader Isaac Herzog announced that he will not be attending Netanyahu’s address to Congress and will not speak at the AIPAC conference, according to The Times of Israel.

While Herzog says he agrees that Iran should not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons, he also says, “I think Netanyahu’s speech in Washington is a mistake.”

Earlier in the day, Likud MK Yisrael Katz asserted on Israel Radio that Herzog’s reluctance to make the trip was due to fear that it would be perceived at home as tacit support for Netanyahu, whom he hopes to defeat in the coming election.

Katz had publicly urged Herzog to attend, arguing that his being there would “represent consensus and a unified front, and would help repel the danger.”

This article appeared in print on page 38 of the February 25th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.