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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to address a joint meeting of Congress on July 24 after accepting an invitation from congressional leaders.
“I am very moved to have the privilege of representing Israel before both Houses of Congress and to present the truth about our just war against those who seek to destroy us to the representatives of the American people and the entire world,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, sent out a joint press release late Thursday announcing that Netanyahu had accepted congressional leaders’ invitation and would speak to Congress on July 24.
Notably, the two Democratic leaders — Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York — did not sign onto the press release even though they had been party to the invitation.
All four congressional leaders sent an invitation to Netanyahu on May 31 inviting him to address Congress and expressing their support for Israel in its fight against terror and Hamas.
“The existential challenges we face, including the growing partnership between Iran, Russia, and China, threaten the security, peace, and prosperity of our countries and of free people around the world,” the leaders wrote in the invitation. “To build on our enduring relationship and to highlight America’s solidarity with Israel, we invite you to share the Israeli government’s vision for defending democracy, combatting terror, and establishing a just and lasting peace in the region.”
The collective invitation did not specify a date when the leaders wanted Mr. Netanyahu to address Congress. A public spat among the party leaders emerged after reports surfaced that they wanted Mr. Netanyahu to address Congress on June 13, the second day of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot.
Mr. Jeffries told reporters that he and Mr. Schumer “had nothing to do with the June 13 date.”
“As someone who represents a broad cross-section of the Jewish community in Brooklyn — and I’m very proud of that fact — I would have known better than to extend an invitation on a Jewish holiday to the prime minister of the state of Israel,” Mr. Jeffries said.
Mr. Johnson had wanted to extend an invitation to Mr. Netanyahu to address Congress for months but had been awaiting Mr. Schumer’s sign-off to make it a joint session, before calling him out publicly and getting him to reluctantly agree.
Mr. Schumer, the only of the four congressional leaders who is Jewish, issued a statement Thursday night saying he joined the request for Netanyahu to speak because he believes “America’s relationship with Israel is ironclad and transcends one person or prime minister.”
However, Mr. Schumer reiterated that he has “clear and profound disagreements” with Netanyahu that he has “voiced both privately and publicly and will continue to do so.” Mr. Schumer suggested earlier this year that Israel should hold a snap election to elect new leadership.
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