Senator Maria Cantwell Poses With Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, More Than 640 Days Into Genocide

Earlier this week, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) posed for a picture with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a man wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. More than a year and a half into Netanyahu’s indiscriminate assault on Gaza, the picture does not flatter Cantwell in current times, but it will undoubtedly age like milk when mainstream Democrats finally accept that they aided genocide, pass some resolution promising to never do it again, and then move on to the next one.

Cantwell’s office did not respond to my request for comment. 

Cantwell’s appearance stands in stark contrast to her Washington delegation colleagues. Around this time last year, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-7) both boycotted Netanyahu’s congressional address. But it shouldn’t be surprising. Cantwell scored a pathetic F grad from the US Campaign for Palestinians Rights Action and American Israel Public Affairs Committee ranked number one of her 2019-2024 campaign donors, dropping more than $200,000, according to Open Secrets.

But it wasn’t just her. In the photo, the far-right genocidal freak was surrounded by a bipartisan group of people whose ancestors will cringe when it comes up in their history textbook. On the Republican side: Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Steve Daines of Montana, Bill Cassidy of Louisana, John Thune of South Dakota, James Risch of Idaho, Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania, and Jon Husted of Ohio. As for Democrats: Sens. Adam Schiff of California, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Chuck Schumer of New York, Chris Coons of Delaware, and Cory Booker of New Jersey,

In a post on social media, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the only Palestinian-American in Congress,  called out the bipartisan show of support for genocide in the photo-op with Netanyahu. She said many of colleagues express frustration that their constituents continue to ask them about their stance on Israel’s genocide. Tlaib argued that the Democratic base is largely against arming the continued annihilation of Gaza, so they shouldn’t be surprised that it keeps coming up. 

“...you stand there with someone that won’t even let baby formula into Gaza, you stand there proudly and you wonder why folks don’t know whose side we are on,” Tlaib said in a video. 

And it's not like they have anything to celebrate. Netanyahu and President Donald Trump did not announce any breakthroughs in the permanent ceasefire deal, earning his trip to the U.S. a “whomp, whomp” from political analysts.