House Speaker Mike Johnson is ready to invite embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress, and is tired of waiting for Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer to join in on his invitation.
Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, has planned to invite Mr. Netanyahu to give an address to both chambers of Congress since March. For that to happen, Mr. Schumer must sign onto a joint invitation from the leaders of both chambers.
But Mr. Schumer, New York Democrat and the highest-ranking Jewish official in Congress, has so far not signed the invitation that the speaker sent to his office in April. Now, Mr. Johnson says, if he won’t sign, the House will host the Israeli leader on its own.
“My office told Senator Schumer’s office yesterday that he needed to sign the joint letter,” Mr. Johnson told reporters on Tuesday. “And if not, we were going to proceed and invite Netanyahu just to the House.”
Mr. Schumer had until the end of the day on Tuesday to agree to the joint invitation, Mr. Johnson said.
Mr. Schumer and the Israeli leader have a chilly relationship following the top Senate Democrat’s demands that new elections be held in Israel to replace Mr. Netanyahu in March. But after Mr. Johnson’s ultimatum, Mr. Schumer may finally put pen to paper.
“I’m discussing that now with the Speaker,” Mr. Schumer said. “And as I’ve always said, our relationship with Israel is ironclad and transcends any one prime minister or president.”
The proposal to invite Mr. Netanyahu to Washington comes at a time when Congress has a fractured stance on Israel — Republicans have championed the Jewish State and their war against Hamas. But Democrats, particularly progressives, have criticized Mr. Netanyahu’s military campaign deeper into Gaza and the growing number of Palestinian civilian casualties.
President Biden has also threatened to continue pausing arms shipments to Israel over concerns of more civilian deaths in Mr. Netanyahu’s planned charge into Rafah, causing an uproar among the GOP and some Democrats.
The Democratic leader signaled that he would join Mr. Johnson in extending an invitation to Mr. Netanyahu earlier this month, the Hill reported, but so far has not made a move.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.