The Israeli prime minister has stated he’s “privileged” to have the ability to clarify his nation’s “simply battle” in Gaza to US lawmakers
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will ship a speech earlier than a joint session of the US Congress on July 24, senior Republican lawmakers have stated.
The date of the tackle was introduced by Home Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) in an announcement on Thursday after Netanyahu was formally invited to talk by all 4 Republican and Democratic congressional leaders final week.
“The existential challenges we face, together with the rising partnership between Iran, Russia, and China, threaten the safety, peace, and prosperity of our international locations and of free individuals all over the world,” the assertion learn.
In line with Johnson and McConnell, the Israeli prime minister is being invited to share his nation’s “imaginative and prescient for defending democracy, combating terror, and establishing a simply and lasting peace within the area” so as “to focus on America’s solidarity with Israel” amid the battle in Gaza.
The assertion included a response by Netanyahu, who stated he’s “very moved to have the privilege of representing Israel earlier than each Homes of Congress and to current the reality about our simply battle towards those that search to destroy us to the representatives of the American individuals and your complete world.”
The announcement of the date for the tackle didn’t embrace the names of Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), as a rising variety of Democratic lawmakers have been important of Israel’s conduct in Gaza and have spoken out towards Netanyahu’s look in Congress.
Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in American historical past, issued an announcement on Thursday stressing that he has “clear and profound disagreements” with the Israeli chief. He stated that he signed the invitation to Netanyahu as a result of “America’s relationship with Israel is ironclad and transcends one particular person or prime minister.”
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) reacted to the announcement on X (previously Twitter), saying that Netanyahu, who “is creating the worst humanitarian catastrophe in fashionable historical past. Hunger. Destruction. Demise,” shouldn’t be invited to handle Congress. Sanders stated earlier that he’ll be a part of the Democrats who skip the speech.
Netanyahu will communicate earlier than a joint session of Congress for the fourth time, greater than another overseas chief. He beforehand visited the Capitol in 1996, 2011, and 2015.
At the very least 36,654 individuals have to date been killed and greater than 83,309 others wounded in Israeli airstrikes and floor offensive in Gaza, in keeping with the Palestinian enclave’s Well being Ministry. Israel launched the operation in response to a cross-border incursion by Palestinian armed group Hamas final October, wherein at the least 1,200 individuals had been killed and 250 taken hostage.
