Biden is ‘running out of time’ with young voters over Gaza war
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US Representative Ro Khanna announces he will skip Netanyahu’s address to Congress, stating that the younger generation wants the war to end.
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Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, on January 30, 2019. (AP)
Progressive California Democrat Ro Khanna warned on Sunday that President Joe Biden is running out of time to win over young voters disillusioned with his administration’s handling of the war on Gaza. Additionally, Khanna announced that he would not attend Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress next month.
In an interview with NBC’s "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Representative Ro Khanna said that President Biden's loss of support among young voters is a “challenge for our party.” He also warned that Democrats might be “running out of time” to regain support due to the ongoing war.
Khanna said, “We have to remember the humanitarian stakes,” adding “Young people want the war to end. However, young people wanted a vision, and the president started that with a ceasefire. I hope he can go further. He should call for two states. He should say in his second term, he’s going to convene a peace conference in the Middle East, recognize a Palestinian state without Hamas, work with Egypt, and Saudi Arabia on it.”
Khanna further stated that he was "not going to sit in a one-way lecture" from the Israeli prime minister during his address to a joint session of Congress, scheduled for July 24, unless he wanted to address Congress with a solution to ending the war.
He echoed his colleague Jim Clyburn, who announced last week that he would also not attend, citing Netanyahu's feud with Barack Obama over Palestinian statehood and the US pursuit of a nuclear deal with Iran.
“How he treated President Obama, he should not expect reciprocity,” Khanna said, adding that Netanyahu should be treated with “decorum” by the legislative body. “We’re not going to make a big deal about it,” he added.
Khanna urged Biden to pressure Netanyahu to support a UN-endorsed ceasefire proposal, backed by the US and the Arab League.
“Benny Gantz is saying prioritize the hostage deal and the peace,” Khanna said, referring to "Israel’s" national unity chair Benny Gantz who resigned from Netanyahu’s coalition government. “Netanyahu is saying they want to destroy … all of Hamas, and I don’t think that’s achievable”.
Khanna’s comments come amid growing political divisions between progressive and centrist Democrats over the war on Gaza. These divisions are highlighted by a key congressional race in the New York suburbs, where Bernie Sanders-supported progressive Democrat Jamaal Bowman is running against centrist George Latimer, endorsed by Hillary Clinton last week.
The contest between the two Democratic candidates in New York’s 16th district may hinge on their differing views regarding the Israeli war on Gaza. Sanders has described it as “ethnic cleansing,” while Bowman has labeled it a “genocide.” In contrast, Clinton has criticized US pro-Palestinian protesters, saying they “don’t know very much” about the Middle East and arguing that a full ceasefire would “perpetuate the cycle of violence.”
