Israel denies Netanyahu to address US Congress over Jewish holiday
- No date has been set for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to US Congress, Israel says
- It followed reports that the speech had been set for June 13, when US President Joe Biden is in Italy
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Tuesday denied US media reports that he will address the US Congress on June 13, amid mounting pressure to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas.
Netanyahu’s office told Israeli media the date of his speech to Congress had “not been finalised”, but it would not be on June 13 because it interferes with a Jewish holiday.
The date had been reported by Punchbowl News and Politico. That would bring the Israeli premier to Washington when US President Joe Biden, who has clashed with Netanyahu over the Gaza war, is expected to be in Puglia, Italy, for a June 13 to 15 G7 leaders’ summit. The US is Israel’s main ally and provides billions of dollars in aid.
Biden on Friday presented what he labelled an Israeli three-phase plan that would end the conflict, free all hostages and lead to the reconstruction of the devastated Palestinian territory without Hamas in power.
Netanyahu’s office stressed that the war sparked by the October 7 attack would continue until all of Israel’s “goals are achieved”, including the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities.
The four party leaders in the House and Senate asked Netanyahu last week to speak before a joint meeting of Congress in a letter voicing solidarity with Israel “in your struggle against terror, especially as Hamas continues to hold American and Israeli citizens captive”.
