PM takes Israeli democracy to the brink: Herzog’s US visit & address to Congress ‘almost irrelevant’

Israeli President Isaac Herzog sought to reassure Congress on Wednesday about the state of Israel’s democracy and the strength of the U.S.-Israel relationship, acknowledging “heated and painful debate” at home and criticism abroad over actions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government. Herzog, whose post in Israel is largely symbolic, became the second Israeli president, after his father, Chaim Herzog, to address Congress. While his speech officially marked modern Israel’s celebration of its 75th year, he also indirectly addressed unease in the Biden administration and among Democratic lawmakers over the Netanyahu government’s planned sweeping overhaul of Israel’s judicial system, expanded Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank and other matters. The divide was reflected in his audience. While lawmakers repeatedly rose to their feet in thundering applause of Herzog’s recounting of Israel’s founding, a handful of leading young progressive Democrats boycotted his speech. For more on the Israeli president’s address to Congress, and his unprecedented message to reassure the US on the Jewish state’s commitment to democracy during a time of social, judicial and constitutional turmoil, FRANCE 24’s Tom Burges Watson is joined by veteran freelance correspondent and analyst Noga Tarnopolsky, with a focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the US and EU in the Middle East, and human rights in South America. As protests rage in the streets of Israel in a showdown with Netanyahu’s highly controversial judicial overhaul, Herzog’s official visit to the US represents “an excruciating diplomatic predicament,” explains Ms. Tarnopolsky.