Mike Johnson Says Netanyahu Will Soon Address Joint Session Of Congress | EUROtoday

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) stated Thursday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will quickly handle a joint session of Congress amid the nation’s ongoing struggle with Hamas.

“Tonight, I’m happy to announce something else to you: We will soon be hosting Prime Minister Netanyahu at the Capitol for a joint session of Congress,” Johnson stated throughout an occasion placed on by the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. “This will be a timely and I think a very strong show of support to the Israeli government in their time of greatest need.”

It’s unclear when precisely Netanyahu might handle lawmakers, though Johnson has been tussling with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) over the invitation. Johnson gave Schumer an ultimatum to signal onto the invite earlier this week, saying if his colleague hadn’t carried out so, the House would invite him by itself.

Schumer informed reporters Wednesday he was “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,” the New York Democrat added.

Schumer condemned Israel’s method in Gaza in March and known as for the nation to make “significant course corrections” within the struggle to guard civilians, a dramatic shift in his steadfast assist for the nation to that time.

He went on to say Netanyahu had “lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel.”

Reps for Johnson and Schumer didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Thursday.

The specter of an invitation has prompted frustration from many Democrats, who remain angered with Israel’s ongoing assault in Gaza and the lack of progress on a cease-fire agreement.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was one of several members of Congress who vowed to boycott any address.

“It’s a terrible idea, no I won’t go,” Sanders told CNN on Wednesday. “You have a prime minister who has created the worst humanitarian disaster in modern history. Israel of course had the right to defend itself against the Hamas terrorist attack. But what Netanyahu has done is gone to war against, all-out war, against the entire Palestinian people.”

The invitation comes just days after the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said he had asked for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and the leaders of Hamas for war crimes and crimes against humanity over the ongoing war in Gaza. The prosecutor, Karim Khan, said the Israeli prime minister and the country’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, were responsible for the crimes, linking the men to intentional attacks against civilians and the use of starvation as a weapon of war.

“The effects of the use of starvation as a method of warfare, together with other attacks and collective punishment against the civilian population of Gaza are acute, visible and widely known,” Khan said earlier this week.