Global Courant 2023-04-19 15:01:51
Kevin McCarthy will spend his first international trip as House Speaker visiting Israel, where he will address the country’s legislative body, he announced Tuesday.
“My first trip abroad as Speaker will be a return to Israel to commemorate their 75th year of statehood,” McCarthy said, confirming that he had accepted an invitation from new Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.
The speech will make McCarthy, R-Calif., the second House Speaker to address the Knesset. Newt Gingrich was the only speaker to address parliament when he did so in 1998.
McCarthy added: “The relationship between the US and Israel is as important as ever, and I am proud to accept the invitation of Amir Ohana as the second Speaker of the House in history to address the Knesset.”
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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, speaks to reporters on Monday, February 6, 2023 on Washington’s Capitol Hill. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
McCarthy will lead a bipartisan delegation of 20 Republican and Democratic congressmen to Israel on April 30, Axios reported.
The congressional delegation will celebrate Israel’s 75th anniversary as a state.
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New Israeli Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, center, speaks next to newly sworn-in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, at the Knesset in Jerusalem on December 29, 2022. (AMIR COHEN / POOL / AFP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, next to Justice Minister Amir Ohana, center left, at the Knesset in Jerusalem on Oct. 3, 2019. (EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images)
Ohana, a member of Israel’s Likud party, was sworn into power on Thursday, December 29, 2022, the same day Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also returned to power.
“Mr. Speaker, we are very pleased to host you in your second home – the Knesset. Thank you for your longstanding support for Israel!” That’s what Omar said on Tuesday.
Just over a week later, and thousands of miles away, McCarthy was sworn in as U.S. Speaker, following a series of turbulent ballots on Saturday, January 7, 2023.
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Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., smiles after winning the speakership and convening the 118th Congress in Washington beginning Saturday, January 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, will make a separate trip to Israel several days early.
The visit also comes amid unrest and violent clashes between the country and residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
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Earlier this month, McCarthy hosted Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Los Angeles, where the two leaders discussed China’s increasingly aggressive behavior in the Indo-Pacific region.
At the time, McCarthy emphasized a peace through strength approach in foreign relations. He also stressed that the meeting was a “bipartite meeting of members of Congress” and not just a meeting of one political party.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
