Netanyahu to address joint session of US Congress soon

(Patria) - House Speaker Republican Mike Johnson announced on Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will soon address a joint meeting of Congress amid heightened tensions with President Joe Biden over the conduct of the war in Gaza, Reuters reported.

Delivering the keynote speech at the annual Israeli Embassy Independence Day reception, Johnson, the top Republican in Congress and a critic of Democratic President Biden's Israel policy, said it would be a "powerful show of support for the Israeli government at a time when it is most needed."

Such a speech will surely further anger some progressive Democrats who are increasingly critical of Israel's military campaign in Gaza and Biden's support for it.

The diplomatic gathering was held amid tensions between Biden and Netanyahu over US efforts to get Israel to do more to protect Palestinian civilians in the war against Hamas in Gaza. The embassy gave equal weight to the speech of Democratic US Representative Pete Aguilar, who shared the platform with Johnson at a more intimate event in the shadow of the Gaza war.

He said US support for Israel is "ironclad." Speaking first, Johnson said to applause from a strongly pro-Israel audience: "Tonight I am happy to announce something else to you. We will soon host Prime Minister Netanyahu at the Capitol for a joint session of Congress."

Successive US administrations have typically sent senior officials to Independence Day receptions, reflecting Israel's status as Washington's closest ally in the Middle East. Vice President Kamala Harris, who has called the situation in Gaza a "humanitarian catastrophe" and called for a ceasefire, delivered last year's keynote address, largely praising US support for Israel.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas spoke a year earlier. An Israeli official said this year that the embassy wanted to honor lawmakers in a bipartisan manner with speaking roles in gratitude for Congress's approval of new US military aid to Israel.

The reception was held on the same night as a White House state dinner for Kenyan President William Ruto, which an Israeli official said created scheduling difficulties for senior administration officials. Other lower-level administration officials were on the embassy's guest list, according to the Israeli official.