![]() ![]() Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is weighing a presidential run, was also in Israel. Tom Cotton, the Arkansas Republican who is said to have presidential ambitions. But in recent months Biden officials have said that talks to reenter the deal are all but dead.Īmong the other congressional delegations in Israel was one including Sen. ![]() ![]() President Joe Biden entered office pledging to reenter the deal, which former President Donald Trump had abandoned at Netanyahu’s behest. It may have been a sign that Netanyahu hopes Schumer is in the same place he was in 2015, when the senator was one of the few Democrats who opposed the Iran nuclear deal brokered by the Obama administration. ![]() The American and Israeli leaders did openly discuss Iran as well as the Abraham Accords, the normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab countries. Releases from Netanyahu’s office were anodyne, praising the friendship of senators from both parties. No one mentioned, at least not in public statements, the recent wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Randy Weber: Netanyahu is “going to get this done.” Juan Vargas, a California Democrat who is among the closest in his caucus to AIPAC. “At the end of the day, the changes that are made or not made, I still think that Israel is a very strong democracy, the only democracy in the Middle East, and I think our relationship continues to get stronger,” said Rep. This delegation was solidly aligned with AIPAC’s traditional pro-Israel positions, and in interviews with the Times of Israel, two members of he delegation said the proposed judiciary reforms did not trouble them. The judiciary reforms did apparently come up in meetings Netanyahu had with a third congressional delegation, organized by an affiliate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The job has historically been mostly ceremonial, with a focus on diplomatic representation to other nations.īut Herzog, in a dramatic speech last week, begged to play a new more involved role, as Israel faces a potential constitutional crisis and protests against the reforms go on.įor his part, Schumer in his remarks with Herzog noted that the delegation “is a very powerful group of senators, each head of a major committee or major area and we wanted to stop in Israel.” Among the delegation were Rhode Island’s Jack Reed, who heads the armed services committee, and Oregon’s Ron Wyden, one of the most influential lawmakers in the area of intelligence. Schumer’s emphasis on Herzog’s aptitude at “bringing people together” was telling: Israeli presidents are not generally expected to be professional conciliators (though Herzog’s predecessor took that role on as well). In addition to being the administration’s top ally in the Senate, Schumer is one of his party’s staunchest supporters of Israel. “You give everybody a great deal of optimism, somebody like you in this position with your talent and your ability to bring people together and listen to all sides,” Schumer said.īiden administration officials have called for a pause on proposed reforms, which could endanger civil rights protections in Israel. Schumer picked up on the hint and praised Herzog for his skills at conciliation. Herzog has thrown himself into efforts to get the governing coalition to put the brakes on the changes and enter into negotiations with the opposition. lawmakers also descended on Israel this week.īut the “internal” issue preoccupying Herzog right now is Netanyahu’s court overhaul. A few other delegations of current and former U.S. On top of that, a wave of violence is cresting over Israel and the West Bank: An Israeli raid on militants in the West Bank city of Nablus this week killed 11 Palestinians, and the State Department said it was “deeply concerned.”īoth of those crises were crescendoing as Schumer, the Jewish Democrat and Senate majority leader - as well as the Republican minority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky - led delegations of their parties’ senators to the country. Chuck Schumer standing arm-in-arm with Netanyahu, grinning.īut these are not normal times in Israel, where the Netanyahu government is advancing legislation to sap the power of the judiciary, drawing hundreds of thousands of people into the streets in protest. ambassador declaring that “Bipartisanship is alive and well in Israel!!” Pledges of mutual support amid external threats. ( JTA ) - Judging from the photos and the tweets, it looked like a set of normal Congressional delegations to Israel: Senators posing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. ![]()
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