'A devious prime minister': 500 Israeli academics ask Netanyahu be disinvited from US Congress

Some 500 Israeli academics wrote on Tuesday to US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson to request that Congress rescind its invitation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

“This is a dangerous political and diplomatic gesture that endangers not only Israel, but the entire free world,” the letter claimed.  

“It gives support and a significant platform to a leader who has abandoned his people and refuses to take responsibility for the greatest disaster that has befallen the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” the letter added, in reference to the October 7 massacre Hamas carried out on southern Israel. 

The letter went on to accuse Netanyahu of “instigat[ing] conflict and pits Israeli citizens against each other for his own political and personal gains. His only interest is preserving his own power and transforming a democratic Israel into a new dictatorship.”

Speaking on the ongoing war against Hamas, the letter added “Netanyahu has demonstrated his indifference to the ongoing hell endured by the hostages held captive by Hamas. He has caused severe deterioration in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has harmed US interests in the Middle East while he continues to pursue the ongoing disaster.”

The government has been criticized by families of hostages, and their allies, for failing to reach an agreement with Hamas to release the remaining 120 people held captive in Gaza. Recently, a strike which may have killed Hamas leader Mohammed Deif was feared to have put current talks at risk, only days after US President Joe Biden announced that Hamas and Israel had reached an agreement on a framework for a ceasefire-release deal.

“He will promote the fantasies he shares with his messianic partners in Israel’s government (who are openly celebrating the opportunities provided by the war, in Gaza and in the West Bank), all in perfectly fluent English aimed at manipulating members of Congress and the American public,” the letter further charged in reference to Israel’s religious government. “Does the United States Congress wish to support such a model of cynical and manipulative leadership in these times? Do its members wish to hear the acrobatic and deceptive speech of a prime minister who fails to adhere to most of his promises or signed agreements?”

The authors of the letter condemned the US’s decision “to invite a devious prime minister who continues to pursue, under cover of war, a judicial coup, hoping no one is watching, with the aim of establishing a new dictatorship under the guise of law, is to accelerate this erosion in the entire free world.”

Netanyahu’s government pursued a judicial reform which would, many argued, threaten the checks and balances in Israeli lawmaking. Additionally, the government attempted to pass the Deri Law. Both legislative attempts were met with protests in Israel and international condemnation - including condemnation from the West.

The authors went on to agree with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's push for new elections in Israel - claiming “according to the majority of the Israeli public, Netanyahu's government is illegitimate, and it’s modus vivendi involves actions that clearly endanger both American and Israeli interests in the region.

“A clear majority of Israeli citizens, across a broad political spectrum, believes that Israel should hold elections now. The Israeli public should be able to decide its future – a choice between Netanyahu and his messianic partners' path of war and destruction or a regional arrangement that includes normalization with Saudi Arabia and other moderate Arab and Muslims states, coupled with an alignment with the democratic world and the United States of America as its leader. We urge you to stand behind this message.

“Until the people of Israel are given the opportunity to speak out through a democratic election process, Netanyahu and his government must reach a deal based on the most recent proposed outline – the gradual release of the hostages in exchange for a ceasefire.”

Throughout the letter, the authors repeat their fear that Netanyahu’s invitation may endanger the hostage deal.

The signatories of the letter included Prof. Niv Ahitov, Prof. Eva Iloz, Ruthi Alon, Prof. Yehuda Alfer, Prof. Nitza Ben-Dov, Prof. Michal Ben Naftali, Dr. Yitzhak Binyamini, Dr. Galia Bar-Or, Prof. Micha Berkoz, Esti G. Haim, Naomi Givon, Dr. Ze'ev Dagani, Prof. Yuval Dor, Dr. Tamar Hess, Dr. Nicole Hochner, Prof. Yoram Harpaz, Prof. Rafi Weichert, Prof. Gal Ventura , Dr. Raphael Zaguri-Orli, Prof. Noam Zahar, Prof. Assaf Hasson, Prof. Alon Hasid, Prof. Hagi Canaan, Prof. Margalit Cohen, Yair Lev, Prof. Vared Lev-Kanaan, Lilach Lachman, Emily Moati, Einat Mittal, Prof. Iris Milner, Ahinoam Nini, Maozia Segal, Prof. Penia Oz-Salzberger, Dr. Ronit Peleg, Prof. Ilana Pardes, Prof. Ehud Fridgot, Prof. Ruth Halperin Kadri, Prof. Miki Kretzman, Prof. Moshe Ron, Prof. Tova Rosen, Zeev Raz, Prof. Dimitri Shumsky, Ilan Sheinfeld, Tzarua Shalev, Julie Shalez and more from Israel and the rest of the world.

Academics echo the concerns of hostage families

Hostages’ family members announced on Tuesday that they had launched a funding campaign to enable them to fly to the US at the same time as Netanyahu - citing similar criticisms of the prime minister as the academics. 

Ayala Metzger, daughter-in-law of hostage Yoram Metzger, said in a video, “Representatives of the Begin Group are going to the US this coming Saturday. We will not let Netanyahu set his false narrative in the international media. We must make our voice heard, be a counter there against him, and remind him that there is a need to sign a deal, stop the war, and return the hostages home.”