| Fraught US-Israel ties on display In Israel Israeli lawmakers are reconvening after a month-long parliament recess on Monday, resuming the fight over a contentious government plan to overhaul the judiciary that has split Israelis and drawn concern from Israel’s most important ally, the United States. The tensions will be on full display when the highest-ranking Republican politician in the U.S., House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, addresses the Knesset later Monday. Israel’s government has portrayed McCarthy’s visit as a nod to bipartisan U.S. support for Israel as it marks 75 years since its creation. Critics say the rare honor given to McCarthy — he’s only the second House speaker to address the Knesset, after Newt Gingrich in 1998 — is a pointed jab at Democratic President Joe Biden. Biden has publicly voiced concern about the legal overhaul and, largely because of it, has so far denied Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a typically customary invitation to the White House after his election win late last year. It is also a sign of the gradual transformation of Israel from a bipartisan matter into a wedge issue in U.S. politics. The trend goes back a decade, when Netanyahu began openly siding with Republicans against Democrats. In parallel, some younger progressive Democrats have become more critical of Israel. Speaker McCarthy: If Biden Doesn’t Invite Netanyahu, I Will United States House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who is currently in Israel to address the Knesset, said that he would soon invite Prime Minister Netanyahu to Washington should President Joe Biden continue to refuse extending such an offer. Speaking to Israel Hayom, the daily owned by Republican megadonor Miriam Adelson, McCarthy 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.” Netanyahu has been growing increasingly irritated about the lack of an invitation to the White House, the longest a US administration has gone without extending such an invitation to an Israeli prime minister upon assuming office. Biden explicitly noted that such an invitation is not expected anytime soon amid his rare public rebuke of Netanyahu amid his proposed overhaul of Israel’s judicial system. The apparent invitation and McCarthy’s visit invoke memories of Netanyahu addressing a joint session of Congress in 2015, coordinated by then-Israel Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer, then-House Speaker John Boehner, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The planning and speech itself upended domestic and international protocol, leading 58 Democratic lawmakers to boycott Netanyahu’s address in support of the Obama administration. The event was seen as the peak of Israel’s emergence as a partisan issue where Republicans have adopted increasingly pro-Israel sentiments in both foreign and domestic politics. Read More ‘‘With US Arms Moving Away, Israel Must Rethink Its Dependency on Washington” |
