WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson says he plans to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress, a show of Republican support amid mounting Democratic criticism of Netanyahu’s leadership .
“I would like to see him come in and address a joint session of Congress,” Johnson told CNBC Thursday morning. “We will certainly extend that invitation.”
Johnson said it would be “a great honor of me” to invite the Israeli leader, but “we’re just trying to work out schedules for all of this.”
Republicans have rallied behind Netanyahu since Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called for new elections in Israel on the Senate floor last week. Schumer, who is Jewish and a strong supporter of Israel, said he believes the prime minister has “lost his way” and is an obstacle to peace in the region amid the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
An American speech by Netanyahu during the brutal war with Hamas could be seen as highly politicized in the US and would draw criticism from many Democrats, especially as many on the left flank have sharply criticized his tactics in the war.
Netanyahu appeared before a joint meeting of Congress in 2015 at the invitation of then-Republican Chairman John Boehner during sensitive US talks on Iran’s nuclear program, a move Democrats criticized as partisan because President Barack Obama’s White House was initially not consulted.
In a statement, Schumer said he would welcome a speech from Netanyahu.
“Israel has no stronger ally than the United States and our relationship transcends any president or prime minister,” he said. “I will always welcome the opportunity for the Prime Minister of Israel to speak to Congress in a bipartisan manner.”
Johnson said on Wednesday that he had had a lengthy conversation with the prime minister and “reiterated to him House Republicans’ strong support for Israel in their efforts there.”
Netanyahu also spoke by video to Senate Republicans on Wednesday at their weekly caucus lunch, telling them during the closed-door meeting that he believes he still has support in the United States and Israel and that he believes Schumer’s comments were inappropriate.
“We have made it clear to the prime minister that in our judgment the American people overwhelmingly support Israel’s war, that we understand the need to prosecute the war,” Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana said after the video call. “Without conquering Hamas, we cannot have peace.”
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Netanyahu called him last week and said he wanted to address the Republican conference. “The bipartisan support for Israel seems to be corrupting the political left in this country,” said McConnell, who has sharply criticized Schumer’s comments.
Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, escalated the criticism earlier this week when he said that “every Jewish person who votes for Democrats hates their religion.”
Schumer, the first Jewish majority leader in the Senate and the highest-ranking Jewish official in the US, strongly criticized Netanyahu in his 40-minute speech, saying the prime minister has placed himself in a coalition of far-right extremists and “as a result, he is too has been willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which has driven global support for Israel to an all-time low.”
He warned that the country could become an international pariah amid continued bombing of Gaza and that the war could go on forever.
“As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders, and we must let the chips fall where they may,” Schumer said. “But the most important thing is that Israelis are given a choice.”
Netanyahu had also asked to address Democratic senators separately, but Schumer rejected the request, arguing that such meetings should be bipartisan.
Following Netanyahu’s comments to Republicans, Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, also a Jewish Democrat, praised Schumer’s speech and said the majority leader “seems to have startled the prime minister.”
“I think he’s nervous,” Schatz said. “I have been here for 12 years and I have never seen a prime minister talking to one party or the other.”
The Democratic Party is increasingly divided over the war and President Joe Biden has increased public pressure on Netanyahu’s government, arguing that he should pay more attention to the number of civilian casualties in Gaza.
Biden said last week that Schumer “gave a good speech” and expressed concerns that were shared by many Americans. But he did not repeat Schumer’s call for Israel to hold elections.
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Associated Press writers Stephen Groves and Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report.