Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy addressed Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, paying tribute to the most prominent Republican figures on the American political scene.
And at a time when relations between the Israeli government and Democratic President Joe Biden are tense. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the speech a sign of bipartisan American support for Israel on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of its “creation declaration.”
McCarthy, “the second speaker of the US House of Representatives to speak in the Knesset since Newt Gingrich in 1998,” is a heavy blow to Biden, according to some officials who have criticized the current US president.
McCarthy addressed the Knesset, where he was greeted with repeated standing ovations after lawmakers returned from a month-long vacation.
Israeli lawmakers are expected to resume their fight for a controversial judicial reform project promoted by the most right-wing government in Israeli history.
The reform project has caused division among Israelis and prompted the American president to issue a rare, scathing public criticism. Biden, in the midst of tensions, has so far refused to send Netanyahu after winning elections late last year the usual invitation to visit the White House.
Source: AB