Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said in Israel on Sunday that if President Joe Biden continues to isolate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the U.S. House would invite him to Washington, regardless.
Biden has refused to offer the customary invitation to Netanyahu, who was elected democratically six month ago. He met with both of Netanyahu’s predecessors, who led governments formed by minority party coalitions.
Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition won the November election with a collective, decisive majority. Yet despite his posturing as a defender of democracy, Biden has refused to treat Netanyahu as a legitimate leader.
In March, Biden reneged on a promise by U.S. Ambassador Tom Nides that Netanyahu would be invited to the White House after pausing controversial judicial reforms. Instead, Biden told reporters no invite would come.
McCarthy is in Israel with a bipartisan delegation. The Israel Hayom newspaper interviewed him:
Asked if the lack of an invitation to the Israeli leader from the White House should be considered normal, the Republican said, “If that [a visit to the White House] doesn’t happen, I’ll invite the prime minister to come meet with the House. He’s a dear friend, as a prime minister of a country that we have our closest ties with,” McCarthy said. When pressed on how long he would wait, McCarthy said, “I think it’s too long now. He should invite him soon.” He added that he has already invited President Isaac Herzog to speak before both chambers of Congress in June to mark Israel’s 75th anniversary.
first, stop its agression against its neighbors in the Middle East;
second, stop supporting terrorism around the world; and
third, stop threatening to annihilate my country, Israel–the one and only Jewish state.
Obama declined to press for these conditions, instead agreeing to allow Iran to emerge as a nuclear threat after about a decade. President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal.
McCarthy and the bipartisan delegation were welcomed to the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, by Speaker Amir Ohana, who performed the Eagles’ “Hotel California” on the electric guitar. Ohana is Israel’s first gay speaker.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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