US bipartisan leaders invite Netanyahu for Congress speech
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US bipartisan leaders have officially invited Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress within the next eight weeks or shortly after the August recess.
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Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waves as he steps to the podium prior to speaking before a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, March 3, 2015. (AP)
In the United States, leaders from both the Republican and Democratic parties have formally invited Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before Congress.
House Speaker Mike Johnson extended the official invitation to Netanyahu on Friday to address a joint session of Congress. The invitation bears the signatures of all four Congressional leaders: Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
The letter reads: "We join the State of Israel in your fight against terrorism, especially as Hamas continues to hold American and Israeli citizens and its leaders endanger regional stability."
It continues, "Therefore, on behalf of the bipartisan leadership of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate, we would like to invite you to address a joint session of Congress."
A source familiar with the situation, as reported by The Hill, noted that the speech is expected to occur "within the next eight weeks or immediately after the August recess."
This will mark Netanyahu's fourth speech before a joint session of Congress, following his addresses in 2015, 2011, and 1996.
Biden lays out three-phase ceasefire plan, corners Netanyahu
US President Joe Biden laid out a new proposal that involves releasing Israeli captives in exchange for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Biden claimed that this is the most effective step toward de-escalating the ongoing war, adding, "With a ceasefire, that aid could be safely and effectively distributed to all who need it."
"As someone who's had a lifelong commitment to Israel, as the only American president who has ever gone to Israel at a time of war, as someone who just sent the US forces to directly defend Israel when it was attacked by Iran, I ask you to take a step back, think what will happen if this moment is lost," he stressed. "We can't lose this moment."
"It's time for this war to end and for the day after to begin," emphasized Biden, who is under the pressure of an election year and amid the ongoing Israeli aggression, which has persisted for eight months.
Read more: Hamas 'views positively' ceasefire proposal laid out by Biden
