Many Dems skipping Bibi speech won’t snub AIPAC

At least one member of Congress who is boycotting Netanyahu’s speech on Tuesday will still show up for a similar message from the prime minister on Monday at the annual assembly of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Earlier in February, Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., whose upper Manhattan district includes a large number of Jewish constituents, issued a challenge to Netanyahu via Twitter.

Rep. Greg Meeks, D-N.Y., who also represents a heavily Jewish district in New York City, told the Washington Examiner he’s still deciding whether he’ll attend Netanyahu’s committee address Monday morning, but definitely will not show up on Tuesday for his address to a joint session of Congress.

Still, Meeks said he is committed to going to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s gala opening dinner Monday night.

“We shouldn’t be playing politics on the floor of the House,” Meeks said. “Those games on the floor, which I’m believe are an insult to the president of the United States of America. I’m not going to be there for that.”

Meeks said he’s heard from several Jewish constituents and some of them urged him to go to Netanyahu’s congressional speech and some said they understand why he’s not going.

“For me, you have principle, you have your own conscience and for the procedure of what’s taking place on the floor, I’m not going to be a part of that.”

All of the members skipping Netanyahu’s congressional speech the Examiner interviewed were quick to say their anger toward the prime minister and his attempt to scuttle the Obama administration’s negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program did not extend to pro-Israel committee.

“Why would I not want to meet with my friends? They’re coming to see me next week and why wouldn’t I see them?” asked Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., referring to twoAmerican Israel Public Affairs Committeelobbyists he’s known and worked with for 25 years.

Gutierrez, who co-sponsored a bill in 2013 that strengthened sanctions against Iran, considers himself a strong Israel ally but is still boycotting Netanyahu’s speech because he says its timing and the way it came about politicized the relationship between Netanyahu and Congress.

“This isn’t anti-Israel — I’m in support of Israel,” he said. “I just think [the Netanyahu speech before Congress] is a very bad idea. It’s politicized — he shouldn’t politicize our relationship and the Congress of the United States … I don’t need anybody coming to tell me how to best protect the United States of America.”

Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, earlier this year invited Netanyahu to a joint session of Congress to speak on the current state of the Obama administration’s negotiations with Iran, but did not inform or get the okay with the Obama administration before extending the offer.

Netanyahu has harshly criticized the talks for easing sanctions against Tehran and making too many concessions. With the already turbulent relationship between Obama and Netanyahu hitting a new low, on Thursday the Israeli embassy intensified its messaging by sending out a tweet of a fake New York Times front page from the future with the headline: “How We Duped The West: Iranian Pres. Declares.”

Some Democrats may be following the White House lead when it comes to attending AIPAC’s massive annual convention of pro-Israel activists or at least meeting with them on Capitol Hill. Earlier this week, the White House said National Security adviser Susan Rice and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power would address the annual assembly after rumors circulated for weeks that the administration might snub the group by sending a lower-profile cabinet member, such as Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.

The nation’s largest pro-Israel organization is both loved and feared. Known in Washington simply as the Lobby, over the last six years, the group has spent upwards of $2.5 million on lobbying annually, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

All 49 leaders of major Jewish organizations have seats onthe American Israel Public Affairs Committee’sexecutive committee, and the group helps its allies in congress get elected — financially and otherwise — and expects members to support their legislative agenda in return.

At least one Democrat who is skipping Netanyahu’s speech to Congress will be meeting with the committee at the very same time of the address.

Rep. John Yarmuth, a Democrat from Kentucky and the state’s first Jewish member of Congress, said he usually skipsAmerican Israel Public Affairs Committee’sannual convention in D.C. because it’s crowded with thousands of people and too much of a hassle to attend.

Still, he’s more than happy to meet with the committee lobbyists one on one in his office.

“As a matter of fact, they’re scheduled to be in my office during the speech — just coincidentally,” he told the Examiner.

Attendance at Netanyahu’s speech has “unfortunately become a litmus test on whether you’re pro-Israel or not and I just resent that,” he said.

For instance, in 2011, Yarmuth recalled that Netanyahu “got something like 29 standing ovations.”

“And you have all the AIPAC people in the gallery and they’re all watching their members to see who stands up and who doesn’t – I just think it’s a circus,” he said. “I don’t want to be a part of that.”

The real danger in the speech, he argued, is that people in Israel and in the United States will infer that Congress is “unanimously in favor” of Netanyahu’s position, “which is exactly opposite of what the case is and I didn’t want to contribute to that.”

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., says it’s not unusual that he’s skipping the Netanyahu speech to Congress because he doesn’t go to most big congressional speeches and has only attended the president’s State of the Union twice in nearly three decades in office.

“I have a lot better things to do than listen to other politicians bloviate,” he said. “In this case, I’m also very concerned about the timing of the speech, about Netanyahu’s position.”

“What’s his solution for Iran?” DeFazio asked. “Apparently, he wants to go to war and every analyst I’ve talked to says the military option is a bad option so I’m for tough negotiations that assure us — that are verifiable. And he doesn’t seem to be for that so I have no reason to listen to someone with whom I have tremendous disagreements.”

Still, DeFazio doesn’t extend that animosity toAmerican Israel Public Affairs Committeelobbyists from his Oregon district.

“When AIPAC Oregonians come here, I meet with them,” he said.