Dems to Johnson: Invite Netanyahu, but pass Ukraine-Israel package

The House Democratic whip said Thursday that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is free to invite the Israeli prime minister to address Congress, but argued the greater show of support for Israel would be to vote on a foreign-aid package awaiting action in the House. 

“There is one group in Congress that is holding up that national security supplement that is needed, desperately, by the people of Ukraine and so many of our other allies. And that is the House GOP,” Rep. Katherine Clark (Mass.) told reporters in the Capitol. 

“That bill needs to come to the floor,” she continued. “So you can invite whomever you like to come and address Congress. But do the work that needs to be done.”

Republicans are pressing to have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu address a joint session of Congress, largely in response to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) recent denouncement of Netanyahu over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war. 

Johnson said Thursday that he’s ready to make the invitation official. 

“I would love to have him come in and address a joint session of Congress,” Johnson said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

“We’ll certainly extend that invitation.”

The visit would come at a fraught moment in U.S.-Israel relations, as President Biden and many Democrats on Capitol Hill have become increasingly critical of Netanyahu’s response to the Hamas terrorist attacks of Oct. 7. 

The Democrats have been virtually united in supporting Israel’s right to defend itself in the wake of those attacks, which left roughly 1,200 dead. But Israel’s retaliatory operations in the Gaza Strip have led to the death of more than 30,000 people — many of them women and children — sparking growing concerns from even some of Israel’s closest allies. 

Schumer, one of those allies, stirred a firestorm of controversy last week when he denounced Netanyahu both for his domestic policies and his conduct in Gaza. Schumer accused Netanyahu of undermining Israel’s security and global standing, largely to distract from a series of corruption charges he faces. 

“Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel,” Schumer said from the Senate floor. He called for new elections to replace Netanyahu. 

The remarks triggered an outcry from Republicans on Capitol Hill, many of whom want Netanyahu to provide his own defense in an address to Congress. 

While liberal Democrats would likely boycott such a speech, Democratic leaders say they’d welcome Netanyahu to the Capitol — a list that includes Schumer. 

“I will always welcome the opportunity for the prime minister of Israel to speak to Congress in a bipartisan way,” Schumer said.

Yet House Democratic leaders are also arguing that the more practical show of support for Israel would be for GOP leaders to take up the Senate-passed foreign-aid package that combines military assistance for Ukraine and Israel with humanitarian help for Gaza. That legislation passed through the Senate last month with 70 supporters, including 22 Republicans, but Johnson has declined to consider it in the House. 

He’s vowing to alter the Senate bill and send it back to the upper chamber at some point when the House returns from its long holiday recess next month. It’s unclear, however, what changes the Speaker will make, or how he intends to pass them through a deeply divided House. 

For those reasons, Democrats are amping up their calls for Johnson simply to put the Senate bill on the House floor, where they say it would receive more than 300 votes. 

“The Republicans, what they’ve done over the course of the last few months — wasting time — is shameful,” said Rep. Joe Neguse (Colo.), the assistant Democratic leader. “And they ought to put that bill on the floor for an up-or down-vote.”