WASHINGTON

Dozens of Israeli executives, academics and former national security officials denounced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, warning in a letter to US congressional leaders that he represents an "existential threat" to the US and Israel. 

The letter signed by 31 Israelis comes on the eve of Netanyahu's address to a joint session of Congress where many lawmakers are expected to not attend or stage protests to interrupt the Israeli leader's speech. It is addressed to House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

"We cannot overstate this: Prime Minister Netanyahu poses an existential threat to the State of Israel. He has no clear strategic objectives for the war in Gaza, no plan for the day after, nor a strategy for how to deal with the existential threat of Iran. For decades, he has been inciting Israelis against each other, damaging our national social fabric, dramatically harming our defense capabilities, eroding our economy and devastating our international standing," the authors wrote. A copy of the letter was posted publicly by CNN.

"Further, Netanyahu severely harms the US national security interests through his approach to this war, which adversely impacts American policy in the Middle East and beyond and further endangers Israel," they added.

Prominent signatories include former Israeli military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Haloutz, ex-Mossad Director Tamir Pardo, former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Nobel Prize Laureate Aaron Ciechanover and Israel's former UN envoy Gabriela Shalev.

Netanyahu's address Wednesday is set to be widely protested around the US capital by groups opposed to his ongoing war on the besieged Gaza Strip where nearly 40,000 people have been killed. Much of the coastal enclave has been reduced to rubble amid sweeping bombardment, which President Joe Biden acknowledged has been "indiscriminate."

The vast majority of the confirmed dead have been women and children. Fears have continued to mount that the actual death toll in Gaza is considerably higher than official figures reported out by Gaza's health officials due to summary burials and mass graves that have been previously discovered.

Israeli restrictions on the transit of international aid have significantly worsened Gaza's humanitarian catastrophe with the World Health Organization warning that there is a high risk that polio is circulating amid a long-standing acute shortage of clean water. Traces of the highly contagious disease have been detected in wastewater.