Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address a joint session of Congress on July 24, two congressional Republicans announced Thursday night.
Louisiana Speaker Mike Johnson and Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, said in a statement that the speech would provide Mr. Netanyahu an opportunity to “share the Israeli government’s commitment to defending democracy.” , fight terrorism and establish a vision of fairness and justice.” and lasting peace in the region. “
But in a separate statement, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Democratic senator from New York, suggested there were deep political differences between Mr Netanyahu and Israel’s war in Gaza, saying, He had “clear and deep differences with the prime minister, and I’m not happy about that”. He said he nonetheless agreed to Mr. Netanyahu’s request to address Congress because “the United States’ relationship with Israel is ironclad and transcends one person or one prime minister.”
Earlier this year, Schumer called on Netanyahu to step down and demanded that Israel hold new elections.
Congress’s top four leaders extended a bipartisan invitation to Netanyahu last month without attaching a date, masking the fierce behind-the-scenes debate over hosting Netanyahu. The need for leaders from both parties to issue separate statements explaining their different reasons for extending the invitation underscores these tensions.
Some progressives, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, have pledged to boycott the speech, calling Mr. Netanyahu a “war criminal” for his tactics in the war against Hamas that led to Gaza Tens of thousands of people died and a humanitarian disaster was caused.
Republicans, by contrast, are eager to tightly embrace Mr. Netanyahu and unequivocally support his policies. Mr Johnson was the driving force behind the invitation.
“I am honored to represent Israel in both houses of Congress and to present to the American people and representatives around the world the truth about our just war against those who seek to destroy us,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement accepting the invitation. middle.
