Ex-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo and four other senior political figures have published a joint letter in The New York Times calling on the leaders of the US Congress to prevent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from giving a speech to US lawmakers on July 24, Al Jazeera reports.

“Congress has made a terrible mistake” by inviting him, the letter said, adding that “Netanyahu’s appearance in Washington will not represent the State of Israel and its citizens”.

The address “will reward his scandalous and destructive conduct toward our country”, the claimants said, stressing that the prime minister “failed to come up with a plan to end the war in Gaza or free dozens of hostages”.

“Congressional call for him should have been conditional on resolving these two issues, as well as calling for new elections in Israel,” the letter concluded.