2024 Election Latest: Netanyahu begins address as thousands of protesters descend on Washington

Hundreds of protesters are rallying within sight of the Capitol building, denouncing Israel’s war in Gaza and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hours before he is set to address members of Congress.

Vice President Kamala Harris will not be in attendance, as she is back on the campaign trail. She will head to the solidly Republican state of Indiana.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden will address the nation tonight at 8 p.m. ET.

Follow the AP’s Election-2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here's the Latest:

By the time Netanyahu was set to begin his address before a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, more than fifty congressional Democrats were noticeably absent after announcing publicly that they would not be attending the speech in protest of the prime minister’s handling of the war.

Protests were also taking place in Israel ahead of Netanyahu’s speech, with demonstrators demanding a cease-fire in exchange for the release of the roughly 120 hostages still held by Hamas. About 200 protesters gathered outside the U.S. Embassy Branch Office in Tel Aviv, some holding signs reading “Bibi, enemy of Israel,” referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.

While many Democrats declined to attend the prime minister’s speech as a way to protest how Netanyahu has led the war against Hamas, one outspoken critic of his conduct is attending.

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, took a seat in the House chamber with a keffiyeh, which she often wears, wrapped over her shoulders. Tlaib was censured last year for her strident criticism of Israel’s conduct in the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived on Capitol Hill and has greeted House Speaker Mike Johnson.

“We are certainly happy to welcome our friend,” Johnson said.

“Today and every day America must stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel,” Johnson said.

“Speaker Johnson, you have shown great leadership,” Netanyahu said.

The two men spoke briefly, podiums side by side, at the Capitol.

Vice President Kamala Harris told a gathering of the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta in Indianapolis on Wednesday that “we are not playing around,” in the 2024 presidential election.

And she asked them for their support in helping to elect her.

Harris said: “In this moment, I believe we face a choice between two different visions for our nation — one focused on the future, the other focused on the past.

“And with your support, I am fighting for our nation’s future.”

Voters in Indiana haven’t backed a Democratic presidential candidate in nearly 16 years. But the biennial meeting of roughly 6,000 people, mostly women, is part of a constituency Harris hopes will turn out for her in massive numbers: women of color.

President Joe Biden stepped away from the race on Sunday.

At an event with dozens of Democrats ahead of Netanyahu’s speech, several family members of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas last year unleashed criticism at the prime minister for coming to the U.S. when he could be focused on securing a deal to free those taken captive.

“The hostage family forum back home urged Netanyahu not to come here and give this speech now at a time when a deal is so close,” said Maya Roman, who had several family members taken hostage. “Because by coming here, he risks making himself the issue, turning the humanitarian issue of the hostages into a political one.”

U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, called the event a “powerful” reminder of the importance of reaching a cease-fire deal and returning the hostages.

“It’s painful for them to have Netanyahu here in Washington kind of promoting himself when their loved ones are still being held hostage,” he said.

Trump’s VP pick is characterizing Harris, his running mate’s possible November opponent, as an out-of-touch “career politician.”

“What has she ever done for this country?” Vance asked conservative activist and host Charlie Kirk in a podcast interview Wednesday.

The 39-year-old Vance, who has begun hitting the campaign trail both solo and with Trump in recent days, also argued that his addition to the GOP ticket can help appeal to young voters.

“If you’re a young voter in this economy with interest rates skyrocketing how can you possibly afford to buy a house?” Vance said. “If you want to turn the page on that … you’ve got to vote for President Trump.”

Vance said he sees the two top issues as the economy and U.S.-Mexico border, on both of which he argued that Biden — and now Harris — are not succeeding.

“I think we have to make a substantive argument that the Kamala Harris-Joe Biden agenda has failed for this country,” Vance said. ”Do we want four years even worse than the last four years?”

Senate Republicans are criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris for skipping Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address today before a joint session of Congress.

Harris is in Indianapolis where she’s speaking to the historically Black Zeta Phi Beta sorority’s biennial convention. She is set to hold private talks with Netanyahu at the White House later this week.

The vice president is the presiding officer of the Senate and would typically co-preside over such an event with the House speaker. But there have been other instances in recent history when the vice president has skipped such addresses by foreign leaders because of scheduling conflicts.

“She should be here whether she likes the prime minister of Israel or not, whether she respects him or not, she should be here,” said Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, who organized a press conference with fellow Senate Republicans that largely focused on Harris’ absence from the speech.”It is a disgrace.”

Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice president nominee, is also skipping the speech to campaign.

“He’s not the sitting vice president of the United States,” Ernst said.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin announced the hearing on the Senate floor Wednesday, saying that the Judiciary panel will hold the joint hearing with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

He said the committees will conduct a bipartisan investigation into the shooting.

The panels will hear from the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI, Durbin said, and they will also have a closed-door classified briefing. Witnesses have not yet been announced.

The mother of an Israeli held hostage by Hamas in Gaza has slammed the delay of the Israeli negotiating team to cease-fire talks.

“Instead of announcing in Congress that he agrees to the deal on the table, Netanyahu is preventing the deal’s fruition because of personal considerations. Even if we hear of more hostages who died in the tunnels, he will continue his PR mission in the U.S. and will continue to drag his feet,” said Einav Zangauker, who has been a vocal critic of Netanyahu throughout the war. Her son Matan was taken hostage on Oct. 7.

An Israeli official said Wednesday that a negotiating team meant to depart to continue cease-fire talks was delayed.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss developments in the sensitive talks, did not give a reason for the delay, saying the team would likely be dispatched next week.

In the bowels of the U.S. Capitol, a group of more than 60 congressional Democrats gathered with the families of Israeli hostages to bring light to their months of captivity and increase pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government to abide by the terms of the cease-fire agreement that the U.S. is helping broker.

The event was marketed as alternative planning for Democrats who didn’t want to attend Netanyahu’s address to Congress later Wednesday afternoon.

“It is my hope that the Prime Minister will listen to you, will listen to the families and to the countless Americans who love and who support Israel and want to see a negotiated end to the fighting that makes an enduring peace possible,” said U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, a senior Democrat who is boycotting the address.

Zeina Hutchinson, director of development for the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, on Wednesday read off the names of several Palestinian journalists killed by the Israeli military.

“We protest this homicidal maniac, his supporters and his enablers,” she shouted from the stage, referencing Netanyahu. “And we demand his arrest.”

She was among hundreds who gathered to protest near the U.S. Capitol.

More than 1,000 people gathered Wednesday morning on Pennsylvania Avenue within sight of the U.S. Capitol building, with more streaming in from multiple directions.

Protesters carried signs branding Netanyahu a “war criminal” and several erected a large effigy of Biden with blood dripping from its mouth and devil horns.

The crowd chanted: “Biden Biden, you can’t hide/We charge you with genocide.”

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This report has been corrected to show that the effigy was of Biden, not Netanyahu.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday pointed to Iran as the force “behind an entire axis of terror” threatening the United States and Israel.

Netanyahu used brief remarks at a memorial for the late lawmaker Joe Lieberman to focus on what the Israeli leader portrayed as danger from Iran and its nuclear program.

Netanyahu long has sought to rally support for more aggressive U.S. and Israeli action against Iran, its militia allies around the Middle East and its nuclear program. His comments at the memorial are likely to foreshadow the theme of the Israeli leader’s remarks to a joint meeting of Congress later Wednesday.

Lieberman, who died in March, “knew how dangerous our world would become if Iran were ever to develop and acquire nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said. The two men often discussed “how Iran was behind the entire axis of terror that threatened both our countries.”

Across the street from Union Station in Washington, D.C., Jewish Americans gathered Wednesday morning for a prayer service led by T’ruah, an organization of rabbis calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

Rabbi Bill Plevan, of New York, said he believed prayer could be a catalyst for peace.

“We’re here to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in Congress,” he said. “We’re here to say we don’t stand by his policies. As American Jews, we don’t support this war.”

Still, many Jewish Americans view the war in Gaza as just because it came as a response to the brutal Oct. 7 Hamas attack, even if they don’t outright support Netanyahu and his policies. The families of hostages taken by Hamas are also protesting, demanding Netanyahu agree to a cease-fire deal that would free their loved ones.

Workers erected a black metal fence around the White House as Washington braced for protests ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before a joint session of Congress.

Multiple protests were planned for Wednesday over Israel’s war in Gaza.

There was a heavy police presence, but the streets were relatively quiet in Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning. A small group of protesters walked down a street carrying Palestinian flags and signs with messages such as “anti-Israel is not anti-semitism.”

Within view of the Capitol, orthodox Jews lined the streets protesting Netanyahu and the war.

As police sirens sounded in the distance, protesters carried signs that included “Jews Worldwide Condemn Israeli Bloody Brutality” and “Free Palestine.” Another called for Netanyahu’s arrest.

Despite some of the people and groups who were protesting, many Jewish Americans view the war in Gaza as just because it came as a response to the brutal Oct. 7 Hamas attack, even if they don’t outright support Netanyahu and his policies. The families of hostages taken by Hamas are also protesting, demanding Netanyahu agree to a cease-fire deal that would free their loved ones.

Hours before Netanyahu was set to arrive, the Senate chairmen of the national security committees sent a letter to President Joe Biden, reupping calls for him and U.S. negotiators to quickly close the cease-fire deal that would end the conflict in Gaza and force the release of the hostages.

“We are under no illusion that this will be easy and we fully understand that diplomacy requires compromise. But the pre-October 7 status quo is not sustainable,” Sens. Ben Cardin, Jack Reed and Mark Warner wrote Wednesday.

Author Marianne Williamson has sent a letter to Democratic delegates seeking their support ahead of their formal presidential nominating process.

Williamson asks delegates to sign her petition and “consider taking a stand for an open convention,” according to a copy of the missive shared with The Associated Press. The note also includes a link for anyone wishing to submit Williamson’s name for nomination.

Democrats have indicated that they will hold a virtual roll call vote by Aug. 7 to name their chosen nominee, ahead of the convention that begins 12 days later in Chicago.

That process will be open to any candidate who musters 300 signatures from delegates elected to the convention.

An AP survey of Democratic delegates indicates that Harris has secured commitments from enough of them to become her party’s nominee.

Williamson challenged Biden for the nomination and suspended her campaign, but reversed herself earlier this year.

Biden will have an opportunity to make a case for his legacy — sweeping domestic legislation, renewal of alliances abroad, defense of democracy — tonight at 8 p.m. ET. when he delivers an Oval Office address about his decision to bow out of the race and “what lies ahead.”

Even though the president won’t be on the ballot this November, voters still will be weighing his legacy. As Vice President Kamala Harris moves to take his place as the Democratic standard-bearer, Biden’s accomplishments remain very much at risk should Republican Donald Trump prevail.

How Biden’s single term — and his decision to step aside — are remembered will be intertwined with Harris’ electoral success in November, particularly as the vice president runs tightly on the achievements of the Biden administration.

And no matter how frustrated Biden is at being pushed aside by his party — and he’s plenty upset — he has too much at stake simply to wash his hands of this election.

▶ Read more on what to expect ahead of the address

Multiple protests are planned outside the Capitol, with some condemning the Israeli military campaign overall, and others expressing support for Israel but pressing Netanyahu to strike a cease-fire deal and bring home hostages.

The largest protest is set for this morning, with organizers planning to march around the Capitol building demanding Netanyahu’s arrest on war crimes charges. A permit application submitted to the National Park Service estimated at least 5,000 participants.

▶ What to know about Netanyahu’s visit

Republican leaders are warning party members against using overtly racist and sexist attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris, as they and former President Donald Trump ’s campaign scramble to adjust to the reality of a new Democratic rival less than four months before Election Day.

At a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Tuesday, National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., urged lawmakers to stick to criticizing Harris for her role in Biden-Harris administration policies.

“This election will be about policies and not personalities,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters after the meeting.

“This is not personal with regard to Kamala Harris,” he added, “and her ethnicity or her gender have nothing to do with this whatsoever.”

Donald Trump is holding his first public campaign rally since President Joe Biden dropped out of a 2024 matchup that both major parties had spent months preparing for, leaving the former president to direct his ire toward his likely new opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

A roaring crowd of battleground state voters greeted Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday as she opened her public case against Republican former President Donald Trump by declaring November’s election will be “a choice between freedom and chaos.”

Harris arrived in the Milwaukee area having locked up nomination support from Democratic delegates after President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid on Sunday. It was her first campaign rally since she jumped into the race just two days ago with Biden’s endorsement.

The event reflected a vibrancy that had been lacking among Democrats in recent weeks, and Harris was intent on projecting a sense of steady confidence about the November election.

▶ Read more about why the event in Wisconsin matters for Harris’ campaign

Just three full days since entering the race after President Joe Biden’s departure, Kamala Harris will address the annual gathering of the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta in Indianapolis.

It’s a moment for Harris, a woman of Black and South Asian descent, to speak to a group already excited by her historic status as the likely Democratic nominee and one that her campaign believes can help to expand its coalition.

Vice President Kamala Harris goes to the solidly Republican state of Indiana later today, but she plans to speak there to a key Democratic constituency as her campaign sees advantages with women, Black, Latino, Asian and younger voters.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden will address the nation from the Oval Office tonight on his decision to drop his 2024 Democratic reelection bid.

The Democratic National Committee has released proposed rules that would give candidates until next week to vie for the party’s nomination. But the process will almost certainly end with Vice President Harris replacing President Biden at the top of the party’s ticket.

Candidates will have to qualify by the evening of July 30, according to draft rules released Tuesday.

The party previously announced proposed rules requiring that candidates submit electronic signatures of support from at least 300 delegates to its national convention, no more than 50 of which can be from a single state.

If multiple candidates qualify, it could spark multiple rounds of voting over several days. But, if Harris is the only candidate, voting would be set to begin Aug. 1. The party said last week that it would not hold voting prior to the start of next month and that the process would be completed by Aug. 7.

Biden endorsed Harris when he left the race Sunday and no other major Democrat has announced plans to challenge her. An AP survey of delegates from states across the country found that she had already exceeded the threshold of support needed to secure the nomination.

Families of some of the remaining hostages held a protest vigil Tuesday evening on the National Mall, demanding that Netanyahu come to terms with Hamas and bring home the approximately 120 Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza.

About 150 people wearing yellow shirts that read “Seal the Deal NOW!” chanted “Bring Them Home” and listened to testimonials from relatives and former hostages. The demonstrators applauded when Biden’s name was mentioned, but several criticized Netanyahu — known by his nickname “Bibi” — on the belief that he has been dragging his feet or playing hardball on a proposed cease-fire deal that would return all of the hostages.

“I’m begging Bibi. There’s a deal on the table and you have to take it,” said Aviva Siegel, 63, who spent 51 days in captivity and whose husband Keith remains a hostage. “I want Bibi to look in my eyes and tell me one thing: that Keith is coming home.”