President of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, David Harel, former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, former special tasks department head in Israel’s State Attorney’s Office Talia Sasson, former prime minister Ehud Barak, Nobel laureate in chemistry Aaron Ciechanover, and novelist David Grossman penned an opinion piece in the New York Times on Wednesday, calling on Congress to “disinvite” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
They stated that Congress had made a “terrible mistake” in inviting Netanyahu since, in his appearance, he would not “represent the State of Israel and its citizens.”
Rather, they claimed, the invitation would serve to “reward [Netanyahu’s] scandalous and destructive conduct toward our country,” in addition to compensating “his contempt for US efforts to establish a peace plan, allow more aid to the beleaguered people of Gaza, and do a better job of sparing civilians.”
According to them, Congress’s invitation “should have been contingent upon resolving” the war in Gaza, securing the release of the hostages, and declaring elections.
Regarding a hostage deal, the group affirmed, “Many Israelis are convinced that Mr. Netanyahu has obstructed proposed deals with Hamas that would have led to the release of the hostages in order to keep the war going and thus avoid the inevitable political reckoning he will face when it ends.”
Shortcomings of Netanyahu's government
They referred to the various spheres in which they operate, which puts them “in a good position to assess the overall effect of Mr. Netanyahu’s government,” which they stated was “driving Israel downhill at an alarming speed."
The group addressed Netanyahu’s avoidance of responsibility “for the blunders that allowed the Hamas assault” and the fact that he had not announced “the establishment of a direly needed state commission of inquiry headed by a Supreme Court judge to look into the fiasco.”
Among the examples cited by the writers as illustrating Netanyahu’s government's shortcomings, the group criticized police violence “under the command” of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, which has been seen throughout the cross-country protests. It also mentioned the withholding of “the appointments of court judges and a Supreme Court president,”; “attempts at political control” of “central scientific and cultural institutions,” and the “large sums of money” that “have been channeled recklessly to the ultra-Orthodox.”
As such, they stated, “A large portion of Israelis have lost faith in Mr. Netanyahu’s government,” concluding, “Giving Mr. Netanyahu the stage in Washington will all but dismiss the rage and pain of his people, as expressed in the demonstrations throughout the country. American lawmakers should not let that happen. They should ask Mr. Netanyahu to stay home.”