Israel’s Netanyahu set to address US Congress on July 24, AP source says

WASHINGTON – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to speak at a joint meeting of Congress on July 24, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Congressional leaders formally invited Netanyahu last week to speak, delivering the latest show of war time support for longtime ally despite growing political divisions over Israel’s military assault on Hamas in Gaza. But the date of the speech was changing. It is already scheduled for July 24, according to the person, who was granted anonymity to discuss the private planning.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, along with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, signed the letter extending the invitation to Netanyahu. They said the offer was intended to “highlight America’s solidarity with Israel.”

Netanyahu’s appearance before an increasingly divided Congress will certainly be controversial and has been the target of many protests, both inside the Capitol, by lawmakers, and abroad, by pro-Palestinian protesters. And it will highlight the growing divisions among Democrats during the election year over the prime minister’s prosecution of the months-long war against Hamas.

Democratic lawmakers most critical of Netanyahu’s strategy are expected not to attend the speech. Senator Bernie Sanders, independent from Vermont, said: “Netanyahu is a war criminal. I certainly won’t.”

Netanyahu’s visit to the Capitol also comes at a time when the relationship between President Joe Biden and the leader of the Jewish state has deteriorated in recent months. Biden has privately and publicly criticized Netanyahu’s handling of the war and criticized the Israeli government for not allowing more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Late last week, Biden announced a proposed agreement to end the fighting in Gaza, putting increasing pressure on Netanyahu to accept the deal. Many Israelis have urged him to accept the terms, but his far-right allies have threatened to leave his coalition government if he does.

Netanyahu called a permanent ceasefire in Gaza “impossible” until long-standing conditions exist for its end the war are fulfilled, appearing to undermine the proposal that Biden described as Israeli.

Johnson first suggested inviting the Israeli leader, saying it would be “a great honor for me” to invite him. His decision came shortly after Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the US, gave a speech stinging rebuke by Netanyahu in a long speech on the Senate floor. Schumer said in the speech that Netanyahu “got lost” amid the Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza.

Even so, Schumer said he would join the invitation because “our relationship with Israel is rigid and transcends any prime minister or president.”