Herzog invited to address Congress on Israel’s 75th birthday

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has been invited to address a joint meeting of Congress as Israel prepares to celebrate the 75th anniversary of its founding, which congressional leaders called a “joyful and historic milestone.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, issued the invitation to Herzog in a joint letter Tuesday. They said the two nations have shared “an unbreakable bond rooted in common security, shared values ​​and friendship.”

The date of Herzog’s speeches has not been set. The State of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948. President Harry S. Truman recognized the new nation on the same day. In his letter, Pelosi and Schumer said Truman’s swift action “has always been a point of pride for our country.”

“Over the decades, the United States Congress has taken pride in standing in solidarity with Israel on a bipartisan, bicameral basis,” Pelosi and Schumer wrote. “We hope that Congress will have the opportunity to hear from you at this historic and joyful milestone in the success of the State of Israel and the US-Israel alliance.”

Herzog will meet with Biden

Herzog began a two-day visit to Washington on Tuesday and met with Pelosi and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, among other US officials. He was scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden on Wednesday.

The White House meeting is a follow-up to Biden’s visit with Herzog in July during his trip to the Middle East.

The bilateral meeting comes ahead of Israel’s Nov. 1 elections, as former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, seeks to achieve a political comeback by ousting Prime Minister Yair Lapid.

Herzog, noting that the midterm elections will also take place in the US, called the meeting with Biden “an opportunity to reaffirm that the powerful friendship and partnership between our nations is above all disagreement and above any political or partisan division”.

Herzog, in a video address before his departure from Israel, said that he intends to discuss peace in the Middle East and the Abraham Accords, which is a declaration that normalized diplomatic relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.

The most important issue, Herzog said, will be the threat posed by Iran, which he called “destabilizing not only the Middle East but the entire world, which requires a strong and united stand against it.”

Herzog said they will also discuss climate change, which he called a “danger to the entire world and humanity,” and opportunities for trade, business and diplomacy.

Biden and Herzog could probably discuss Israel’s role in the Ukraine-Russia war.

[Con información de The Associated Press]

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