Kamala Harris will miss Netanyahu’s address to Congress. Here’s why.

It’s unclear whether the Vice President committed to her speaking appearance before or after Netanyahu rescheduled his address

US Vice President Kamala Harris and Israeli President Isaac Herzog (out of frame) speak to the media prior to a meeting at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, July 19, 2023. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

By Louis Keene, Unitha CherryJuly 22, 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits Washington this week. But Harris will miss Netanyahu’s address to Congress on Wednesday, her office confirmed, the first time she has missed a foreign leader’s address at the Capitol since she became vice president.

Harris, who as vice president is also president of the Senate, plans to address a historically Black sorority’s national convention in Indianapolis that day, according to the Indianapolis Star. Sen. Ben Cardin will preside over the speech in Harris’ stead.

Sen. J.D. Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, will also miss the speech.

Harris’ choices — especially with regard to Israel — have come under increased scrutiny since President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he would not run for reelection and endorsed Harris for president, with many other high-ranking Democrats following suit.

Then-Sen. Kamala Harris, left, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his Jerusalem office in 2017. Photo by Amos Ben Gershom/GPO

Some observers say Harris’ absence from the address would mark a shift in the Democratic party’s orientation toward Israel. Netanyahu’s invitation was initiated by Republicans, but joined by Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer not long after he publicly rebuked Netanyahu. Schumer said he joined the invitation to show support for Israel. It is unclear when Harris — who addressed a similar sorority convention last July — made her plans.

Harris’ meeting with Netanyahu, who arrived in the U.S. on Monday, is separate from the prime minister’s scheduled one-on-one with Biden.

Visiting dignitaries and sorority sisters

Netanyahu was originally scheduled to address Congress on June 13, but rescheduled last month because the date conflicted with the second day of Shavuot. (Israel only observes one day of the holiday.) It will be the fourth time he has addressed Congress, surpassing Winston Churchill’s three speeches to become the foreign leader with the most such appearances.

Harris’ office announced the vice president’s engagement as keynote speaker at the Zeta Phi Beta Grand Boule on July 3.

The vice president’s office and the Zeta Phi Beta sorority did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday afternoon.

Six foreign leaders have addressed joint sessions of Congress since Biden took office, according to the Congressional Research Service, including Israeli President Isaac Herzog in July 2023.

Harris, who joined Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority while a student at Howard University, used a similar forum last July — the national convention of Delta Sigma Theta, another historically Black sorority), to drum up support for Biden’s reelection. She also spoke at an AKA convention on July 10.

Netanyahu’s speech will be his first address to a joint session of Congress since March 2015, when — invited by then-House Speaker John Boehner — he gave a speech opposing the Obama Administration’s proposed nuclear disarmament deal with Iran.

In the latest invitation to Netanyahu, Congressional leaders asked him “to share the Israeli government’s vision for defending democracy, combating terror and establishing a just and lasting peace” in the Mideast. Biden has urged Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire agreement.

“It’s time to begin this new stage, for the hostages to come home, for Israel to be secure, for the suffering to stop,” he said on May 31. “It’s time for this war to end and for the day after to begin.”

Two Democratic members of Congress, Reps. Robert Garcia and Sara Jacobs, said Monday they would not attend Netanyahu’s address.

Louis Keene is a reporter for the Forward. His work has also been published in The New York Times, New York Magazine and VICE. He is based in Los Angeles and can be followed on Twitter @thislouis.

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