Israeli President Isaac Herzog will deliver a joint address to Congress on July 19, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA) office announced Thursday.
Herzog's visit to the United States next month, which will include a meeting at the White House with President Joe Biden, will commemorate the 75th anniversary of Israel’s founding. McCarthy addressed the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in April to honor the achievement. Congressional leadership first invited Herzog to address a joint session in October during his last U.S. trip, but the speech had not been scheduled until this week.
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The trip, Herzog's second in a year, also comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to wait for an invitation from the White House and Congress to visit since reclaiming his leadership role in late December. Netanyahu runs the government and dictates domestic and foreign policy in his capacity as prime minister, whereas Herzog's role as president is largely symbolic.
Biden listed Netanyahu's efforts in recent months to overhaul the Israeli judicial system as partially to blame for why he would not get a White House visit in the future.
A National Security Council spokesperson said in a statement that Biden "looks forward to inviting the prime minister before the end of the year" but did not provide any additional information on a timeline.
Herzog said of his trip during a video address at the Israeli Embassy for Washington’s Independence Day party earlier this month that, "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.”
Herzog will be following in the footsteps of his father, former Israeli President Chaim Herzog, who addressed a joint session of Congress in 1987 and remains the only person in his position to have done so. Netanyahu has spoken before Congress in his capacity as prime minister on three occasions, including a heated 2015 speech condemning the Iran nuclear deal that angered then-President Barack Obama.
The joint address, similar to the address given by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last Thursday, will likely focus on solidifying his country's relationship with the United States. Also, like with Modi, Herzog's address is certain to spark boycotts from some congressional Democrats who oppose the idea of giving a leading Israeli figure such an important platform.
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While the majority of the House and Senate Democrats are staunchly pro-Israel, progressive lawmakers including "Squad" Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) have emerged as harsh critics of the Jewish state. The liberal lawmakers, all of whom boycotted Modi's joint address over human rights concerns, have long faced accusations of being hostile toward Israel.
Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez made headlines last May when they pushed a controversial resolution in the House of Representatives that referred to Palestinians as the "indigenous inhabitants" of Israel that made no reference to Jewish history in the region.