WASHINGTON, DC – As Congress prepares for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s joint address, Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08) announced his plans to help publicize the traumatic experiences, ardent hopes and sharply dissenting perspectives of families of individual Israeli hostages kidnapped during Hamas’ vicious terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Before the address, Rep. Raskin will meet with numerous hostage families who have been protesting Prime Minister Netanyahu’s indifference to the fate of their loved ones in captivity, his failure to meet with dozens of hostage families and his refusal to get serious about a comprehensive hostage return and ceasefire.
“These families speak for the majority of Israelis who disapprove of Netanyahu’s performance in office,” Rep. Raskin said.
Rep. Raskin, along with Representatives Jim Clyburn (SC-06), Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Jim McGovern (MA-02) and Mark Takano (CA-39), is leading a conversation with numerous Israeli citizens whose family members were taken hostage during the October 7 Hamas terror attacks. This event will involve a conversation with Israeli families who lost loved ones on October 7 and still have family members being held hostage, and it will include a moment of silence for all the victims of the war. To view the media advisory, click here.
Rep. Raskin will also bring a close relative of a hostage as his guest for the address and uplift for the world the voices of families of Israeli hostages who have been demanding a bilateral ceasefire and serious diplomacy to bring their loved ones home and to end the brutal cycle of terror and war in the region.
“The terrorist atrocities in Israel on October 7 and the subsequent devastating war in Gaza have been an unremitting human tragedy and catastrophe. I stand in solidarity with the families of Israeli hostages who have been marching in the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to demand that Netanyahu place paramount importance on the safe return of their loved ones and that he reach a joint ceasefire agreement now,” said Rep. Raskin. “I stand in solidarity also with hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in Gaza who have been displaced, rendered homeless, wounded, maimed, sickened or killed by Netanyahu’s often indiscriminate and disproportionate tactics in what began clearly, and obviously to the world, as a just war of self-defense against Hamas, a terrorist death cult.
“This humanitarian and political catastrophe afflicting Palestinians and Israelis alike must end. It is in the cause and interest of all humanity that the hostages be safely and swiftly returned home, that there be a complete bilateral ceasefire in the region, that terrorists be removed from operational control of Gaza, that the right-wing settler provocation and violence in the West Bank encouraged by right-wing Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir be brought to an immediate end to stop further devastation and war, and that there be a permanent end to the horrifying cycles of terror and war in the region to usher in the creation of the long-postponed Palestinian state alongside a democratic and secure Jewish state.”
Rep. Raskin continued: “As several family members of hostages have told us, the indicted Prime Minister Netanyahu should be back in Israel now working nonstop towards a ceasefire deal and return of the hostages.
“But even if Netanyahu’s presence in the Capitol building is dubious, mine is not. I work here every day and it is important for me to me to be here, not only to stand up in Congress with the desperate and heartsick families of Israeli hostages and for desperate and besieged Palestinians now facing famine and disease, but also to stand up for the majority of American Jews who passionately support Israel and its people but strongly oppose Netanyahu, his dangerous policies and his reckless determination to stay in office at all costs. I also stand with the majority of the people of Israel who reject Netanyahu, hundreds of thousands of whom have marched at different times recently for the rule of law, judicial independence, human rights, peace and Netanyahu’s removal from office.
“I stand with the champions of democracy, human rights, and peace in Israel and throughout the region. I stand strong for the national security of Israel as the nation contends not only with Hamas but with antisemitic provocation, propaganda and violence from other enemies, including Hezbollah, the Houthis and the theocratic police state of Iran, which is exporting its vicious authoritarian designs throughout the region.
“These difficult times call for the wisest democratic leadership—not for reckless demagogues and self-serving kleptocrats. As a Member of Congress who served for four years during Donald Trump’s presidency and went to every single State of the Union Address during his one term in office, I will attend Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address. I have never run, and will never run, away from my own workplace because a corrupt right-wing autocrat facing criminal prosecution is invited to take the rostrum. As a Member who was here on January 6, 2021, I don’t cower and vacate our Chamber under any circumstances, especially not for right-wing bullies or authoritarian pro-Trump thugs.
“A hostage family Member I spoke with railed against Netanyahu's outrageous refusal to meet with most of the hostage family members and to experience their demands for ceasefire. But then she shocked me by insisting that I attend his address today. As she put it, ‘I don’t want you to boycott his speech, I want you to go and confront his lies. That is how you can help us.’
“Another told me: ‘We don’t have the luxury of boycotts. We need people who lead different political parties and nations engaged in real dialogue if we are ever going to achieve peace.’
“The United States, which has been a strong and indispensable democratic ally to democratic Israel, must continue to engage with Mr. Netanyahu and his cabinet to urge them in the strongest possible terms to pursue a complete bilateral ceasefire in the region and an end to the humanitarian crisis crushing Gaza. We must push forward for an enduring peace and strong democracy for all the people of the suffering region.”
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