JERUSALEM: Facing intense pressure to quickly cut a ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to deliver a landmark speech to the US Congress on Wednesday.

While Netanyahu will become the first foreign leader to address a joint meeting of the two chambers four times, pulling ahead of Britain’s Winston Churchill on three, an expected meeting between Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden is still not confirmed.

Publicly, Biden has voiced strong support for Israel, but he expressed concern over an offensive on the southern city of Rafah in May and for a while suspended deliveries of heavy bombs to Israel.

“Never before has the atmosphere been so fraught,” said Council on Foreign Relations Middle East specialist Steven Cook. “There is clearly tension in the relationship, especially between the White House and the Israeli prime minister,” Cook said in a commentary.

One Jewish senator, Democrat Brian Schatz of Hawaii, announced he would boycott Wednesday’s speech, saying he would not listen to “political rhetoric that will do nothing to bring peace in the region”.

On July 19, the International Court of Justice found Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories “illegal”, months after it called for the country to stop genocide in Gaza.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2024

Opinion

Predatory taxation

Predatory taxation

Without fundamental rethink and reset, Pakistan’s catastrophic tax regime will drive the country's already shrinking formal sector towards extinction.

Editorial

Victim complex
Updated 20 Mar, 2025

Victim complex

If New Delhi is sincere about bringing peace to South Asia, let it agree to an unconditional dialogue with Islamabad about all irritants.
LSM decline
20 Mar, 2025

LSM decline

THE slump in large-scale manufacturing amidst the adjustments the economy is forced to make in order to stay afloat...
Education interrupted
20 Mar, 2025

Education interrupted

THE sudden closure of major universities in Balochistan, ostensibly due to ‘security concerns’, marks another...
Genocide resumes
Updated 19 Mar, 2025

Genocide resumes

It appears that Palestinian people will again be left defenceless in the face of merciless brutality.
Strength in unity
19 Mar, 2025

Strength in unity

WILL it count as an opportunity lost? Given the sharp escalation in militant violence in recent weeks, some had ...
NFC weightage
19 Mar, 2025

NFC weightage

THE NFC Award has long been in need of an overhaul. The government’s proposal to bring down the weightage of...