Schumer to Invite Netanyahu to Address Congress After Calling for His Ouster
Sen. Majority Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will join Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) in extending an invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before a joint session of Congress.
“He intends to join the invitation, the timing is being worked out,” a spokesperson for Schumer told The Hill on Thursday. Johnson told the publication he sent Netanyahu’s invitation letter to Schumer about a month ago and “it’s been sitting on his desk.”
The revelation comes six weeks after the senator called for Israel to hold new elections so Netanyahu could be ousted.
Speaking on the Senate floor on March 14, Schumer said that Netanyahu “all too frequently bowed to the demands of extremists” in his government and that it “has become clear to me the Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7.”
The prime minister’s government consists of hardliners including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who recently called for the “total annihilation” of Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir lamented that too many suspected Palestinian militants are being arrested instead of being killed.
“I also believe Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel,” Schumer said in his March speech. Netanyahu is currently under indictment for corruption, but the trial has been delayed “because of the war.”
Netanyahu last spoke in front of a joint session of Congress in 2015 and received 22 standing ovations. During his address, he criticized then-President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. The prime minister also spoke before Congress in 2011 – when he received 29 standing ovations – and 1996.
