Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has officially been invited to deliver an address to Congress, according to a letter obtained by The Hill on Friday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) sent Netanyahu a formal invitation to speak during a joint meeting of Congress, and the invitation featured the signatures of all four Congressional leaders: Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), according to The Hill.
“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,” the letter reads. “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.”
Johnson later confirmed the invitation, writing on social media, “I am honored to invite Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress.”
A source familiar told The Hill the address is expected to take place “as soon as the next eight weeks or soon after August recess.”
Last week, Johnson said at an event in Washington that Schumer had agreed to invite Netanyahu to address congress, though a formal invitation had not yet been extended at that time.
Two days earlier, Johnson said he had presented Schumer with an ultimatum: Join his letter inviting Netanyahu to address Congress, or the House will move ahead with an invitation on its own.
Schumer reiterated following Johnson’s comments that he is open to hosting the Israeli leader at the Capitol.
“Yes,” Schumer replied when asked if he supports the idea of having Netanyahu address a joint meeting of Congress.
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.
Despite his criticism of Netanyahu, Schumer later hinted that he would not be opposed to Netanyahu addressing Congress.
(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.)