Fearing Bibi, Bennett Mulls Visiting DC on a Weekend 

By Staff, Agencies 

“Israeli” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is considering planning his potential upcoming trip to the United States over a weekend in an effort to avoid missing crucial Knesset votes. 

Following then-president Reuven Rivlin’s visit to the White House two weeks ago, US President Joe Biden extended an invitation to Bennett to travel to the White House “as early as possible.”  

Bennett will make the trip around mid-August, “Israeli” Channel 12 News reported on Wednesday. Topping the agenda for talks with Biden will be developments in Iran and the recent election of a new president, Sayyed Ebrahim Raisi. 

Bennett’s office is weighing holding such a trip between a Thursday and a Monday in order to avoid letting the opposition, led by former Zionist premier Benjamin Netanyahu, take advantage of his absence to vote down government-proposed legislation or pass its own motions. 

The Knesset holds plenum sessions on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and the opposition has been urging all of its members to attend, deliver lengthy speeches and file a torrent of reservations to filibuster the meetings and drag them on for hours — frequently spilling over into the early morning hours of Thursday. 

The coalition enjoys a wafer-thin 61-59 majority in the parliament and requires full attendance at most plenum sessions.