Bipartisan Leaders Invite Netanyahu to Address Congress

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been officially invited to deliver an address to Congress, according to the Hill report.

Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in U.S. history, and his office on a number of occasions said the Senate leader was supportive of having Netanyahu address Congress, despite his sharp criticism of the Israeli leader, but the New York Democrat did not sign the letter until recently.

The invitation letter read, “We join the State of Israel in your struggle against terror, especially as Hamas continues to hold American and Israeli citizens captive and its leaders jeopardize regional stability.

“For this reason, on behalf of the bipartisan leadership of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, we would like to invite you to address a Joint Meeting of Congress.”

A source who pleaded anonymity said, the address is expected to take place “as soon as the next eight weeks or soon after August recess.” It would be Netanyahu’s fourth address to a joint meeting of Congress, following speeches in 2015, 2011 and 1996."

Rep Maxwell Alejandro Frost said, “I think there’ll be a lot of people who wouldn’t go, just given the fact that he is pushing this war into a place that no one wants it to go into just to save his own butt, which makes Israel less safe and the region less safe. I would probably boycott the event."

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), a Jewish Democrat who called Netanyahu a “menace,” said she “boycotted his last visit. I certainly will not attend this one. It’s not going to help move us forward — it’s a detriment,” she added. 
During Netanyahu’s 2015 visit to the Capitol, the Israeli leader used his speech to attack then-President Obama over the Iran nuclear deal, an extraordinary display that was denounced by Obama’s Democratic allies.

The formal invite for Netanyahu to address Congress marks the culmination of a weeks-long discussion over whether the Israeli leader would be given the opportunity to speak to lawmakers in the Capitol.

Schumer again reiterated that he would support having Netanyahu visit the Capitol, telling reporters “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.”