U.S. House speaker weighs inviting Israeli PM to address Congress

WASHINGTON, March 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday he is considering inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give a speech before Congress, in a show of GOP support for Israel amid growing partisan divide over how Washington should handle the war in Gaza.

"It's one of the things that we have in mind, and we may try to arrange for that," Johnson told reporters when asked about a potential invitation.

"I think it's very important for us to show solidarity and support for Israel right now in their time of great struggle, and we certainly stand for that position, and we'll try to advance that in every way that we can," added the Louisiana Republican.

The idea was raised to Johnson during a closed-door meeting of the House Republican Conference on Wednesday morning, according to U.S. news outlet Axios, which first reported the discussion.

Johnson told reporters that he had a "lengthy conversation" with Netanyahu in the morning.

Inviting a foreign dignitary to address a joint session of Congress would require the buy-in from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, whose bombshell criticism last week of the way Netanyahu is prosecuting the war in Gaza as well as a direct call for new elections in Israel not only provoked the ire of the prime minister, but also deepened partisan divide at home.

"He has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows," Schumer said of Netanyahu during a speech on the Senate floor Thursday, adding the Israeli leader "has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel."

"It's inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there. That's something that Israel, the Israeli public does on its own, and we're not a banana republic," Netanyahu said in CNN's "State of the Union" aired Sunday, in response to Schumer's remarks.

Netanyahu was scheduled to speak virtually with Senate Republicans on Wednesday during their regular lunch meeting.

Schumer confirmed to reporters at a press briefing Wednesday that he rejected Netanyahu's request to speak with Democratic senators on the same day. "When you make these issues partisan, you hurt the cause of Israel," the New York Democrat said.

Axios reported that in addition to a potential congressional speech by Netanyahu, House Republicans at the morning meeting also discussed other ways to combat Schumer's remarks last week.