Congressional staffers walk out of office in protest of Netanyahu speech

Dozens of staffers walked out of Congress in protest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech.

“Netanyahu’s presence is an affront to the U.S. Capitol and to the American values ​​that Congress swore to uphold,” said a group of staffers calling for an end to the war in Gaza.

“For months, people across the country have been calling on their representatives to work to end this war,” the group said in a statement.

“Their demands are our demands: to stop funding this war against civilians, secure the release of arbitrarily detained Israeli and Palestinian hostages, and use the leverage the American people have paid for to establish a permanent ceasefire that will end this brutal war.”

“This war on Gaza is not self-defense, it is a criminal campaign of revenge against women and children who have been forced from their homes and pushed into starvation,” a spokesperson for the group told The Hill.

Last week, 230 staffers signed a petition condemning the Israeli prime minister’s visit, saying it was a “death issue” and not political.