Israel’s President Isaac Herzog will address a joint session of the US Congress on July 19th, according to an announcement by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy. Herzog has already been invited to meet with US President Joe Biden at the White House, though no date has yet been set for that meeting.
In May, I became the 2nd Speaker of the House in history to address the Israeli Knesset. Now it’s my honor to host @IsraelPresident @Isaac_Herzog for a Joint Meeting of Congress on July 19.
The only other President of Israel to share this distinction is his father—President…
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) June 29, 2023
President Herzog’s father, President Chaim Herzog, was the only other Israeli president to address a joint session of Congress, in 1987.
Herzog’s visit comes at a point of ongoing tension between the left-leaning Biden Administration and the Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Netanyahu.
The Biden administration has been openly critical of the Israeli government’s attempts to reform and reintroduce balance into Israel’s broken judicial system. There is also tension caused by the Biden administration’s attempts to sign a deal with Iran, a regime which openly declares that it wants to destroy Israel.
Since taking office, Biden has been purposely snubbing Netanyahu in order to weaken Netanyahu politically.
However, the actual consequence of that snubbing is that Netanyahu has had more freedom-of-action than ever, and has been actively pursuing policies that advance Israeli interests in multiple arenas.
When asked in a recent interview about not being invited to the White House, Netanyahu responded that it will eventually happen, but in the meantime, he speaks with Biden over the phone.
Back in April, McCarthy reportedly told the Israel Hayom paper, that if Biden doesn’t invite Netanyahu soon to Washington, he would.
