MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is here in Washington, D.C. this week. He is meeting leaders from both parties. Later today, he's scheduled to address a joint session of Congress. It's still a high-profile event. There are elaborate security arrangements, for example, lots of closed streets. But Netanyahu arrives at a moment of American political turmoil and protests over his handling of the war against Hamas in Gaza. Hundreds of protesters led by the group Jewish Voice for Peace occupy the Cannon House Office Building yesterday. NPR's international affairs correspondent Jackie Northam has more.
JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE: This is Prime Minister Netanyahu's first time out of Israel since the start of the war in Gaza in October. He may have thought or hoped he'd get some relief from the divisions and anger he's been facing back home over his handling of the conflict. Instead, it's followed Netanyahu to Washington.
MICHAEL LEVY: The reason I'm here is my way to say that we are running out of time.
NORTHAM: Michael Levy traveled from Ganei Tikva near Tel Aviv earlier this week, along with about 40 other family members of Israelis held hostage by Hamas. Levy's younger brother Or was taken hostage, and his wife killed when militants attacked Israel October 7. One hundred and twenty hostages remain in Gaza, of whom more than 40 are believed to be dead.
LEVY: We keep getting news about hostages that died or were murdered in captivity, and we want to make sure that this time, we won't miss a chance for a deal that brings all of them back.
NORTHAM: Netanyahu is under enormous pressure from hostage families to sign a cease-fire deal with Hamas so the Israelis can be released. Levy is hoping President Biden can convince Netanyahu to agree, especially now that he's dropped out of the campaign.
LEVY: Now both President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu can decide what will be their legacy.
NORTHAM: For other Israelis, Netanyahu's visit is an opportunity to counter his narrative. Nadav Weiman is an Israeli military veteran and now the executive director of Breaking The Silence, an organization that opposes the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Weiman disputes that Netanyahu, who he calls Bibi, is in the U.S. to find a solution to the Gaza war.
NADAV WEIMAN: Bibi basically is coming over here to make the war in Gaza prolong for his political reasons, not for the interest of Israel. He wants to be in power.
NORTHAM: Weiman says if he reaches a cease-fire with Hamas, the far right-wing members of Netanyahu's cabinet will walk, and his government will collapse. Weiman's colleague, advocacy director Joel Carmel, says they'll send that message home when they meet with think tanks and members of Congress, including those who won't be attending Netanyahu's speech.
JOEL CARMEL: What's important for us to say is that that support for Israel should be for Israelis and not for Israeli government policy.
NORTHAM: For Maoz Inon, his visit to D.C. is personal. Both his parents died in the October 7 attack. He says Netanyahu's policies failed to keep the country and his parents safe. The Israeli Prime Minister has broad support in most quarters of Congress and the administration and beyond. Inon is urging people to rethink that relationship.
MAOZ INON: Sometimes, the best friend action will be to tell stop or do something different and to take the car keys from a drunk friend.
NORTHAM: Inon travelled to D.C. with Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian peace activist living in East Jerusalem. He says together they're trying to show there can be an alternative to reality on the ground.
AZIZ ABU SARAH: So far, it's been way more positive than I expected, even among the administration and people in State Department.
NORTHAM: Despite sharp criticism from many Israelis, Netanyahu can expect a warm reception when he addresses Congress later today and from former President Donald Trump, who he'll meet later this week in Florida.
Jackie Northam, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF WILL VAN HORN'S "A HORSE NAMED ZELDA") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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