Netanyahu Invited to Address Congress Amid Israel-Hamas War, Johnson Says

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) arrives for a party meeting at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem on May 20, 2024. Oren Ben Hakoon/AFP via Getty Images

WASHINGTON—House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced on May 23 that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been invited to address a joint session of Congress amid the war between Israel and Hamas.

Mr. Johnson confirmed the invitation at an event hosted by the Israeli Embassy at the National Building Museum. He did not specify the date of the address.

Mr. Netanyahu is expected to accept the invitation.

Rumors first began to swirl on March 20 that the Republican House speaker was considering inviting the Israeli leader to address Congress. Asked again about the idea during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box“ program on March 21, Mr. Johnson said it was in the works.

“I would love to have him come and address a joint session of Congress,” he said. “We will certainly extend that invitation.”

On May 22, Mr. Johnson said his staff and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s staff were working out the logistics.

The news comes a couple of months after Mr. Schumer decried Mr. Netanyahu’s handling of the war and called for new elections in Israel.

Mr. Johnson rebuked Mr. Schumer’s comments, calling them “highly inappropriate.”

Mr. Johnson didn’t explicitly say his efforts to invite Mr. Netanyahu to address Congress are part of a further effort to chastise Mr. Schumer, but he did take the opportunity during the CNBC interview segment to again criticize the Democrat Senate leader.

“What Chuck Schumer did was almost staggering, just unbelievable,” Mr. Johnson said on March 21. “To suggest to our strongest ally in the Middle East, the only stable democracy, that he knows better how to run their democracy is just patently absurd.”

He told “Squawk Box” that Mr. Schumer’s comments were “outrageous” and a “terrible signal to our allies and our enemies around the world,” noting that he wished the Senate majority leader “would keep his comments to himself.”

Senate Leader on Board

On May 21, Mr. Schumer said he supported inviting Mr. Netanyahu to Congress.

“I’m discussing that now with the Speaker of the House and as I’ve always said our relationship with Israel is ironclad and transcends any one prime minister or president,” he said during a press conference following the weekly Senate policy luncheon.

Members of Congress have already told The Epoch Times whether they would attend the speech were it to happen.

“I probably would not go,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) without elaborating.

The invitation comes as the International Criminal Court this week announced it will seek warrants for the arrest of Mr. Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, and Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri for allegedly committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, beginning with the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 and continuing with Israel’s response.

Israel and the United States have rebuked the announcement.

Hamas, justifying its “armed resistance,” said in a May 20 statement that the ICC decided to “equate the victim with the executioner.”

The last time Mr. Netanyahu addressed Congress was in 2015 when he warned about the then-upcoming Iran nuclear deal, which he said he opposed because the United States and allies gave Tehran sanctions relief while not adequately addressing its nuclear program and not dealing with Iran’s other activities, such as the regime’s leading support for terrorism.

A number of Democrats boycotted the 2015 address, and the Obama administration refused to meet with Mr. Netanyahu during his visit.

Ryan Morgan contributed to this report.