Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Mike Johnson announced Thursday that he will extend an invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress.
"This will be a timely and a very strong show of support to the Israeli government in their time of greatest need," Johnson said in a speech at the annual Independence Day event at the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
Johnson told reporters on Wednesday that he would invite Netanyahu in the coming week, though a date for the address has not yet been set. The move would make Netanyahu the first foreign leader in history to address Congress four times, breaking his own record of three addresses shared with Winston Churchill.
Johnson said he would invite Netanyahu regardless of whether the Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer agrees to a joint invitation.
The House speaker also addressed the arrest warrants that could be issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague against Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, saying he was "proud" that Washington was united "in a bipartisan manner against this madness."
