US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said at an event in Washington on Thursday that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had agreed to invite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address congress.
A formal invitation has not yet been extended to Netanyahu, but will be soon, added Johnson.
On Wednesday, Johnson told reporters he spoke to Netanyahu and they are working to coordinate a date for Netanyahu to give a joint address to Congress.
On Tuesday, Johnson said he had presented Schumer with an ultimatum: Join his letter inviting Netanyahu to address Congress, or the House will move ahead with an invitation on its own.
Johnson told reporters that his office notified Schumer’s staff the day before that if the Senate leader does not sign the draft invitation for Netanyahu by Tuesday, he will proceed with inviting Netanyahu to address just the House.
The Speaker, however, noted that he would invite senators to attend the speech.
Schumer reiterated following Johnson’s comments that he is open to hosting the Israeli leader at the Capitol.
“Yes,” Schumer replied when asked if he supports the idea of having Netanyahu address a joint meeting of Congress.
“I’m discussing that now with the Speaker of the House, and as I’ve always said, our relationship with Israel is ironclad and transcends any one Prime Minister or president,” he added.
Netanyahu previously spoke before Congress in March of 2015.