WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said Thursday that he plans to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to Congress about the conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“We would love to have him come to Congress and address a joint session of Congress. We will certainly extend that invitation,” Johnson said in an interview on CNBC's “Squawk Box.”
Johnson said Netanyahu had already invited him to speak in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, and all that was left to do was to arrange a date. He also criticized Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for slamming Netanyahu's leadership and calling for new elections in Israel in a floor speech last week.
“It is patently unreasonable to suggest to our strongest ally in the Middle East, our only stable democracy, that we know better how to run a democracy,” Johnson said. “So imagine if I were on your show this morning to call for regime change and fight for survival in Ukraine in the midst of a crisis, which is what Israel is facing right now. And Senate leadership, say that's outrageous.”
Asked if Schumer needed to agree to Netanyahu speaking in Congress, Johnson said: “Well, we'll see. I mean, look, I'm the one extending the invitation to speak in the House of Commons. “It's fine if we have a House of Representatives, but I think we'll want the majority of the Senate to come support Netanyahu and Israel.”
A Democratic leadership spokesperson said Thursday that Johnson has not yet spoken with Schumer about the possibility of Netanyahu coming to address Congress.
“Israel has no stronger ally than the United States, and our relationship extends beyond one president and one prime minister,” Schumer said in a statement. “I always welcome the opportunity for the Israeli prime minister to speak in parliament on a bipartisan basis.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu last spoke to a joint session of the House and Senate in 2015, when both chambers were controlled by Republicans, in which he criticized U.S. allies and the Obama administration over negotiating the nuclear deal with Iran.
Netanyahu addressed Senate Republicans by video for 45 minutes in a closed session Wednesday, but Schumer rejected the Israeli prime minister's request to address Senate Democrats.
“Senator Schumer has made it clear that he does not believe these discussions should be partisan. That is not beneficial to Israel,” a spokesperson for Sen. Schumer said Wednesday.
Republican senators who heard Netanyahu's speech said his main message was that Israel intended to “finish the job” against Hamas.
The White House plans to meet with an Israeli delegation in Washington next week, U.S. officials said, after President Joe Biden invited a team of officials for a visit during a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week. During the conversation, Biden warned the Israeli prime minister not to proceed with his country's planned ground offensive on Rafah, a city in southwestern Gaza along the Egyptian border.
Another U.S. official said the Biden administration plans to formally recommend that Israel conduct small-scale operations that do not attack key Hamas targets and endanger civilians.
