Netanyahu to address joint session of Congress on July 24

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address a joint session of Congress on July 24, a Republican leader announced Thursday night.

The four main parliamentary leaders formally invited Netanyahu to address lawmakers on Friday, ending weeks of speculation about whether he would be given the opportunity to visit Parliament amid fighting between Israel and Hamas. Netanyahu accepted the invitation on Saturday.

“This bipartisan, bicameral meeting symbolizes the enduring relationship between the United States and Israel and provides an opportunity for Prime Minister Netanyahu to share the Israeli government’s vision for defending democracy, combating terrorism, and establishing a just and lasting peace in the region,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement Thursday night.

The announcement of the speech schedule did not include Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) or House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who signed a letter last week urging Netanyahu to address Congress.

His absence was notable after progressive Democrats in both houses of Congress voiced strong opposition to Netanyahu’s speech, with some already vowing to skip the speech. Representative Schumer also voiced his opposition to Netanyahu in a March House speech, calling for new elections in Israel and declaring that the longtime Conservative leader had “lost his way.”

The Senate Majority Leader, the highest-ranking Jewish official in American history, released a statement Thursday night in which he stressed his support for U.S.-Israel relations but made no mention of his absence from the schedule announcement.

“I have clear and deep disagreements with the prime minister that I have expressed and will continue to express privately and publicly. But I have joined the call for the prime minister to speak out because the American-Israeli relationship is strong and goes beyond any one person or prime minister,” Schumer said.

Netanyahu’s speech next month will be his fourth time addressing a joint session of Congress, following visits to the United States in 2015, 2011 and 1996.

His speech this year is sure to spark outrage among liberal Democrats outraged by the growing humanitarian toll in Gaza, some of whom have already announced plans to boycott the speech.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. He should not be invited to address this joint session of Congress and I will certainly not attend,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said in a statement last week.

The issue of the Israeli-Hamas war has been a contentious one among the Democratic caucus, causing divisions between pro-Palestinian progressives and staunchly pro-Israel Democrats.

These divisions were on full display recently when the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, the Israeli defense minister, and Hamas leaders, finding them “criminally responsible” for a range of war crimes. Pro-Israel Democrats blasted the ICC for falsely equating Israel with Hamas leaders, while pro-Palestinian liberals called for the court’s decision to be respected.

The United States does not recognize the ICC and does not consider Americans to be subject to its jurisdiction.

Johnson first floated the idea of ​​inviting Netanyahu to speak before Knesset in March, shortly after Schumer called for Israel’s new elections, but the process was delayed by several weeks after Schumer held up on signing a letter extending the invitation to the Israeli prime minister.