Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with President Biden at the White House on July 22, two days before Netanyahu delivers an address to a joint session of Congress, The Times of Israel reported Monday.
The meeting will mark the first time Biden hosts Netanyahu in Washington since the Israeli leader took power in December 2022. They have two in-person meetings during that time, during the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2023, and when President Biden visited Israel in October 2023 following the Hamas attack on southern Israel.
Biden and Netanyahu have also held frequent phone calls since October 7 to discuss Israel’s military operations in Gaza. Media reports have portrayed the relationship between the two leaders as uneasy, but Biden has provided strong military and political support for Netanyahu’s genocidal war.
That support continues even as Netanyahu is clearly sabotaging the chances of a ceasefire deal with Hamas. Israeli officials have told the media that Netanyahu doesn’t want an agreement before his address to Congress since he sees it as an opportunity to clinch more American support, which he hopes will increase his domestic support.
Netanyahu has a history of controversial addresses to Congress, including in 2015, when he delivered a speech opposing the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). He also played a key role in pressuring the Trump administration to tear up the agreement, which kept Iran’s civilian nuclear program under stringent limits.
In 2002, Netanyahu testified before Congress urging that the US invade Iraq, pushing the false narrative that Saddam Hussein had WMDs. “There is no question whatsoever that Saddam is seeking, is working, is advancing towards to the development of nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said.
He also claimed that a regime change in Iraq would inspire a revolution in Iran. “If you take out Saddam, Saddam’s regime, I guarantee you that it will have enormous positive reverberations on the region,” he said.