House Speaker Mike Johnson slammed Vice President Kamala Harris’ “unconscionable” decision to skip Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress on Wednesday — much like President Biden did during the Israeli prime minister’s last speech to US lawmakers in 2015.
“President Biden, who was the vice president at the time, skipped that address just as our current vice president will be boycotting the speech,” Johnson (R-La.) told The Post in an interview on the eve of Netanyahu’s speech.
“I believe that’s unconscionable,” said Johnson.
The House speaker said Netanyahu’s arrival in Washington comes at “a very important” moment, with Biden abandoning his 2024 re-election campaign, endorsing Harris but still having to lead the nation as wars rage in Ukraine and Israel.
“He’ll emphasize the importance of America’s resolve and our support,” Johnson predicted of Netanyahu’s speech. “Israel is in a war for its very survival. It’s arguably the most desperate time for Israel since they became a nation-state again.”
“We need to have the truth presented,” he went on, “regardless of the political turmoil and all the rest that’s circling about our politics in a contentious election year.”
Johnson also pushed back on critics of Israel’s leader who have characterized the address as a desperate move to curry favor with US political allies, as public support back home in the Jewish state wanes.
“It’s the opposite of a political stunt. It was not his idea — it was mine,” Johnson noted. “We issued the invitation and I would have done this many months ago.”
“In fact, that was the intention early in the spring, but I could not get [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer to cosign,” he added, a feat that took several more months.
“Ultimately, he did not do so until he got enough public pressure,” Johnson recalled. “And, that was a great frustration to me.”
If it stretches another 75 days, Israel’s war with Hamas will reach the grim milestone of Oct. 7, the date of Hamas’ terror attack last year that massacred 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and took another 250 hostage.
Only 120 remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip, with a third believed to be dead, according to Israeli officials.
Of the hostages, eight are American citizens — though three have since been confirmed dead.
Only 120 remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip, with a third believed to be dead, according to Israeli officials.
The GOP leader revealed to The Post that he invited every one of the family members of the five remaining US hostages to observe Netanyahu’s address — Edan Alexander, Omer Neutra, Keith Siegel, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Hersh Goldberg-Polin — along with other staunch allies of Israel.
Those included conservative radio and Fox News host Mark Levin, former Minnesota GOP Sen. Norm Coleman, Republican Jewish Coalition executive director Matthew Brooks, as well as US Ambassador to Israel Jacob Lew.
Notably absent for Netanyahu’s address will be Harris, who on Monday accepted an invitation to be the featured speaker at the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority’s “Grand Boule” in Indianapolis.
The historically black sorority is one of the “Divine Nine,” like Harris’ sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha.
But Republicans like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said the move was a “sign of the pro-Hamas” bias among Democrats, several of whom are expected to proudly participate in the boycott.
“We will not be tolerating protests and disruptions,” Johnson pledged after having threatened to deputize the House sergeant-at-arms to arrest both invited guests and House lawmakers.
Netanyahu is still expected to meet with Harris later this week and told reporters before boarding his flight to the US on Monday that he looked forward to seeing Biden, too.