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