Herzog officially set to address US Congress, as Netanyahu still not invited
President will make trip in third week of July, with address to joint session of Congress on July 19, and likely meeting with Biden; will spend Shabbat in New York
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
President Isaac Herzog will address a joint session of Congress in Washington, DC, on July 19, leaders of both US parties announced on Thursday, officially confirming what had been an open secret for weeks.
Herzog’s office also confirmed the plan.
A message from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said the visit will “commemorate the 75th anniversary of the statehood of Israel and reaffirm the special relationship between our two nations.”
Herzog is expected to also meet with US President Joe Biden, and will meet with Jewish leaders in New York City, where he will spend Shabbat.
Earlier this month, several Hebrew media outlets reported that Biden had invited Herzog to visit the White House during his upcoming trip.
It will be Herzog’s second visit to the White House in less than a year, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to be invited to meet with Biden since winning the Israeli elections in November, causing some tension.
Herzog’s office told The Times of Israel that the invitation to meet with Biden was made in November.
Israel celebrated its official Independence Day in April. The invitation to address Congress was extended to Herzog when he was in Washington last October by US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Herzog met with Pelosi during that trip and also with Biden at the White House.
Netanyahu has yet to receive an invitation to visit the White House, six months after entering office, amid tensions with Washington over his government’s intensely divisive efforts to curb the power of the courts and hand greater authority to the executive.
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
In March, Biden castigated the Israeli government’s judicial overhaul plan and said Netanyahu would not be getting a White House invite in the near future.
Earlier this month, during an interview with the UK’s Sky News, Netanyahu was asked about the delay in being invited to meet Biden and responded that “it will come.”
In a Wall Street Journal interview on Thursday, Netanyahu said that US-Israel relations remain strong despite the lack of a White House invitation from Biden.
“I think it may take some time, but I think, of course, I should expect to meet President Biden,” Netanyahu said.
“This issue of the invitation clouds people’s views,” he added. “In fact, the security cooperation, the military cooperation and the intel cooperation, including cyber, is stronger than it’s ever been under our two governments.”
Netanyahu said this week that he will visit China, in what some view as a signal to Washington that Israel has other diplomatic options.
The judicial overhaul has been frozen since late March as the coalition and opposition attempt to negotiate a compromise following intense public protests by those who believe it will destroy Israeli democracy. Hours after Netanyahu announced the pause, US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides said he expects the prime minister will meet with Biden “as soon as their schedules can be coordinated.” However, no meeting has come.
In a video address at the Israeli Embassy in Washington’s Independence Day party, Herzog said: “I’m looking forward to visiting the United States of America in the near future, to addressing a joint meeting of Congress, visiting my good friends at the White House, and meeting so many other good friends.”
