Bipartisan Leaders Officially Invite Netanyahu to Address Congress

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been officially invited to give a speech to Congress, according to a letter obtained by The Hill.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Friday sent Netanyahu a formal invitation to speak during a joint meeting of Congress, and the invitation featured the signatures of all four congressional leaders: Johnson , Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) , Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.).

“We join the State of Israel in its fight against terrorism, especially as Hamas continues to hold American and Israeli citizens captive and its leaders put regional stability at risk,” the letter says. “For this reason, on behalf of the bipartisan leadership of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, we would like to invite you to speak at a Joint Meeting of Congress.”

A familiar source told The Hill that the speech is expected to take place “in the next eight weeks or right after the August recess.”

The invitation came from Washington after weeks of delay by Schumer who, during a high-level speech in March, declared that Netanyahu had “lost his way” and called for new elections in Israel, drawing the ire of the former Israeli leader, the Republicans and some Democrats.

Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in U.S. history, and his office have said on multiple occasions that the Senate leader supported Netanyahu speaking to Congress despite his harsh criticism of the Israeli leader, but the New York Democrat did not sign on. the letter until recently.

Netanyahu’s visit to the Capitol – if it comes to fruition – is sure to provoke intense anger among liberals in both chambers, who have denounced the conservative leader’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, especially as the number of humanitarian deaths in the Gaza Strip continues to increase. ascend.

Those feelings deepened last week after a prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC), of which the US is not a member, filed arrest warrants against Netanyahu and other Israeli and Hamas leaders, claiming they “are responsible ​criminals” by a list of war crimes.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story