City Councilman Vincent Gentile, the Democratic Party candidate for the open 11th Congressional District seat, declined comment yesterday when asked if he would attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before a joint session of Congress tomorrow. He also declined comment on explaining his reasoning on whether to attend or not attend the controversial speech.
KCP yesterday put the questions to both Gentile and GOP candidate Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan as the two must deal with such policies as a federal lawmaker in Washington.
“The answer is an emphatic ‘yes,'” said Donovan in an emailed statement. “This is a pivotal time for the safety of our nation and the world, and we must do everything in our power to ensure Iran does not obtain nuclear weapon capabilities. The American public deserves to hear from one of our country’s strongest and proudest allies and I look forward to hearing Prime Minister Netanyahu’s remarks.”
Local political observers speculate that Gentile’s unwillingness to put forward any views on the issue may stem from not wanting to hurt his large Bay Ridge Arab-American base. The Southern Brooklyn neighborhood is estimated to have 200,000 Arab-Americans including the largest Palestinian neighborhood in Brooklyn – and they have a growing local political presence .
The same observers, however, also note that Gentile’s lack of a comment stems from Netanyahu’s decision to break American protocol and speak to Congress without first informing or asking the White House, which infuriated fellow Democrat President Obama. The U. S. Constitution establishes the protocol because it gives the executive branch the power to set foreign policy.
Netanyahu’s speech, which is expected to bash the U.S. current negotiations with Iran over the use of nuclear energy, has also drawn some criticism in Israel from both right-wing and moderate leaders because it upends the longstanding Israeli-U.S. bipartisan relationship.
Some also see Netanyahu’s speech as a political ploy as he is in the home stretch of his own re-election campaign.
The 11th Congressional District special election is set for May 5. The district covers Staten Island and parts of Southern Brooklyn.
