Speaker Johnson plans to invite Netanyahu to address Congress after Schumer spat
House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed that he intends to formally invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress.
“I would love to have him come in and address a joint session of Congress. I will certainly extend that invitation,” Johnson (R-La.) told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Thursday morning.
Netanyahu previously invited the speaker to address the Knesset, Johnson revealed, claiming that he’d become the third US speaker afforded that opportunity.
“We’re just trying to work out schedules on all this,” the speaker noted.
Johnson’s overture to Netanyahu comes as Congress has stalled on efforts to marshal an aid package to Israel amid strife over Ukraine funding. It also comes amid the increasingly strained relations between the Israeli leader and top Democrats.
Last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the US, caused an international firestorm by labeling Netanyahu and his cabinet an “obstacle” to peace and calling on Israel to hold new elections.
“Of course, the United States cannot dictate the outcome of an election, nor should we try,” Schumer declared during a speech on the Senate floor last Thursday. “That is for the Israeli public to decide.”
Johnson, 52, admonished Schumer, 73, for that speech.
“What Chuck Schumer did was almost staggering, just unbelievable. 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,” the speaker told CNBC.
A Schumer spokesperson told The Post that Johnson has not discussed the invitation with the Senate majority leader yet.
“Israel has no stronger ally than the United States and our relationship transcends any one president or any one Prime Minister. I always welcome the opportunity for the Prime Minister of Israel to speak to Congress in a bipartisan way,” Schumer said in a statement obtained by The Post.
President Biden has similarly soured on Netanyahu. Following his State of the Union address earlier this month, the 81-year-old president was caught on a hot mic telling a senator that he intended to have a “come to Jesus meeting” with Netanyahu.
Biden and Netanyahu spoke on Monday for the first time in roughly a month. The Israeli leader agreed to Biden’s request to dispatch a delegation to the US to discuss plans involving Rafah, a city in the Gaza Strip where roughly 1.4 million Palestinians are estimated to have taken refuge.
Netanyahu has been keen on Israel’s military pushing into Rafah to further his war against Hamas, but the Biden administration has dubbed it a “red line” if the Jewish state plows ahead without a sufficient plan in place for civilians.
The 74-year-old Israeli leader controversially addressed a joint session of Congress back in 2015, marking his third such invite, which came from Republicans.
During that speech, he railed against the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action deal that then-President Barack Obama helped cut with Iran to curtail its nuclear weapons capabilities. Schumer had opposed it at the time.
Former President Donald Trump later withdrew the US from that agreement.
Last July, Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed a joint session of Congress.
The Israel-Hamas war has emerged as a political flashpoint for Democrats, whose progressive base has splintered on the issue.
Biden has seen significant protest votes in Michigan, Minnesota and elsewhere during the 2024 primary over his support of Israel.
Josh Christenson contributed to this report.
