Speaker Mike Johnson is ready to extend an invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was given an ultimatum on Tuesday – get on board or Johnson will go it alone.
The two men announced earlier this month that the invitation would be extended but there was no specific date mentioned at the time. Johnson thinks Schumer is dragging his feet now so he’s ready to extend the invitation for Netanyahu to just speak to the House.
At the time, the announcement was questioned because, in March, Schumer delivered an outrageous speech on the Senate floor where he called Netanyahu an “obstacle of peace.” He called for new elections in hopes of replacing Netanyahu, the duly elected leader of Israel. Think about that. Netanyahu is leading a war against Hamas for the survival of Israel and the Jewish people while Schumer arrogantly meddles in Israel’s domestic politics. Did Schumer join with Johnson to do some rehab after his speech was criticized by all sides? Yeah, probably.
Netanyahu has addressed Congress in the past. He did so in 2015. Netanyahu warned about the threats from Iran and its nuclear weapons program. Now Iran is funding a proxy war with Israel using Hamas.
So, Johnson gave Schumer a deadline of Tuesday evening to sign the letter to invite Netanyahu or he would send it with only his name on it.
“My office told Sen. Schumer’s office yesterday that he needed to sign the joint letter,” Johnson said. “And if not, we were gonna proceed and invite Netanyahu just to the House.”
Schumer responded by telling reporters that he was working with Johnson to put the details together but he did not give any specifics.
“I’m discussing that now with the speaker of the House,” Schumer said. “As I have always said, our relationship with Israel is ironclad and transcends any one prime minister or president.”
There is that word again – ironclad. Schumer and Biden must have a different definition of ironclad than the rest of us. Schumer clearly delivered that speech in the Senate on behalf of President Biden. Biden has backtracked on several occasions in his public support of Netanyahu and Israel, siding with Hamas in the war to pander to Muslim Arab American voters in places like Dearborn, Michigan.
The Hamas attack on Israel was so horrific on October 7, 2023, that Biden had to come out strong for Israel. However, Biden and his former boss, Barack Obama have a history of treating Netanyahu poorly during their time in the White House. Joe Biden has a history of making bad decisions when it comes to foreign policy. Now Biden tries to hamstring Netanyahu from conducting the war as he sees fit.
Now there is the issue of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and arrest warrants.
The invite also comes as Netanyahu faces an arrest warrant application from the International Criminal Court over allegations of committing war crimes. Several lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have decried the warrant, and the Biden administration has opposed the move.
House Republican leaders have even gone so far as to propose a bill that would sanction any foreign person engaged in an effort by the ICC to investigate or arrest a U.S. citizen or an official from an allied U.S. country.
Israel is not a member state of the ICC. Neither the United States nor Israel are signatories of the Rome Statute, the document that founded the court.
The Hamas wing of the Democrat Party will likely squawk about the invitation. They are against foreign aid to Israel and call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire. That would be the end of Israel, which is what they want.
Let Johnson go it alone if he has to. There is no reason to help Schumer rehab his reputation after his stunt. Netanyahu may not be a popular political leader but his handling of the war against Hamas is overwhelmingly popular with Israelis.