Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is poised to join House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) in inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deliver an address to Congress, despite recent criticism of Netanyahu on Schumer’s part, The Hill reports.
Johnson told The Hill that he sent Schumer a draft invitation around a month ago, but the Senate leader has been sitting on it since.
“I sent a letter draft, because it’s a bicameral invitation letter, it’s been sitting on Chuck Schumer’s desk. As far as I know he has not cosigned it yet,” Johnson said, adding that it was sent “probably a month ago.”.
Now, Schumer is ready to sign on, according to his office.
“He intends to join the invitation, the timing is being worked out,” the Senate leader’s spokesperson told The Hill on Friday.
Netanyahu previously spoke before Congress in March of 2015.
Schumer caused an uproar in March when he gave a speech from the Senate floor, in which he claimed that Netanyahu “lost his way” and called the Prime Minister an "obstacle to peace."
Officials in both the US and Israel criticized Schumer at the time, though President Joe Biden later indicated he supported Schumer’s remarks.
"He made a good speech," Biden said in the Oval Office when asked by reporters asked about Schumer's remarks.
"He expressed serious concerns, shared not only by him but by many Americans," Biden continued, adding that his staff were notified about the speech in advance by Schumer.
Netanyahu later responded to Schumer’s remarks in an interview with CNN, calling them “totally inappropriate.”
Schumer last month once again called on Israel to hold elections, citing National Unity Party chairman Benny Gantz’s call for elections.
“When a leading member of Israel’s war cabinet calls for early elections and over 70% of the Israeli population agrees according to a major poll, you know it’s the right thing to do,” Schumer wrote in a post on social media.
His comment came after Gantz, at the conclusion of a press conference on the Gaza war, said, "In order for us to maintain unity, the public must know that we will soon come and ask for their trust. Let us not ignore October 7. For this reason we must agree on an election date around September. I discussed such a date with political leaders. Elections will prevent a split in the nation, because soon we will renew the trust between the people and their leaders."
Despite his criticism of Netanyahu, Schumer hinted in March that he would not be opposed to Netanyahu addressing Congress.
"Israel has no stronger ally than the United States and our relationship transcends any one president or any one Prime Minister," Schumer said in a statement. "I will always welcome the opportunity for the Prime Minister of Israel to speak to Congress in a bipartisan way."
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)