Word – Pressure Builds on Netanyahu as Visit to Washington Nears

Others in Mr. Netanyahu’s governing bloc have called on him to resist the political pressures against a cease-fire agreement. The ultra-Orthodox Shas party sent a letter to Mr. Netanyahu on Wednesday telling him “not to fear the voices within the coalition who oppose the deal.”

Some of the most persistent pressure for a cease-fire deal has come from world leaders, health organizations and human rights groups, which have condemned Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and led to widespread hunger and disease, according to the Gazan health authorities.

At a briefing in Washington on Wednesday, a State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, told reporters that, given the scale of Palestinian suffering in Gaza, reaching a cease-fire agreement was an “urgent priority.”

Some Democratic lawmakers have said they plan to skip Mr. Netanyahu’s speech in Congress to signal discontent with his government. And the speech has highlighted the divides over Mr. Netanyahu’s leadership at home.

A group of 500 Israeli academics sent the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, the Louisiana Republican who had invited Mr. Netanyahu, a letter this week asking him to disinvite the prime minister, saying he “has demonstrated his indifference to the ongoing hell endured by the hostages.” And while some relatives of the hostages planned to travel to the United States to protest the address to Congress, others are expected to accompany the prime minister.

Dani Elgarat, whose brother, Itzik, was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, urged one rescued hostage, Noa Argamani, not to go forward with her reported plans to join Mr. Netanyahu in Washington. Mr. Elgarat said her presence might undermine the chances of bringing home more hostages.

Mr. Elgarat said he hoped that he and other relatives traveling to the United States to protest Mr. Netanyahu would not find themselves in the “absurd situation” of also being in conflict with a freed hostage accompanying him.

Many countries, including the United States, have argued that any hope for a lasting peace in the region depends on the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

But on Thursday, lawmakers in the Knesset approved a resolution declaring that a Palestinian state would pose an “existential threat” to Israel, embracing Mr. Netanyahu’s position on the issue. The resolution passed with 68 votes in the 120-member body. Benny Gantz, an opposition leader who quit Mr. Netanyahu’s emergency cabinet in June, citing disagreements over the conduct of the war, backed the measure.

Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting.