Republican Kevin McCarthy exhibits in Israel his support for Netanyahu in full distancing with Biden

Kevin McCarthy addresses the Israeli Parliament this Monday in Jerusalem.ABIR SULTAN (EFE)

On his first trip abroad as speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy has taken Israel back to 2015 on Monday. That year, the then and current prime minister of the country, Benjamin Netanyahu, took their disagreement to a new level with Barack Obama taking advantage of the Republican majority in Congress to deliver a speech there that was highly critical of the agreement on the Iranian nuclear program that the White House was negotiating.

Obama reacted to the rudeness by not receiving Netanyahu, while his then vice president, Joe Biden, did not go to the speech and more than 50 Democratic congressmen absented themselves in protest.

This Sunday, after more than four months without inviting Netanyahu to the White House by that same Biden, now president — something unprecedented with an Israeli prime minister since 1969 — the Republican McCarthy has used his visit to Israel to point out that, if Biden You do not summon Netanyahu “soon”, he will invite you to the US House of Representatives.

“If that [a visit to the White House] does not happen, I will invite the prime minister to come to the House.

He is a good friend, as prime minister of a country with which we have our closest ties, ”he said in an interview published this Sunday by the

The distance between two such close allies is related to the radical nature of the Israeli government (a coalition of the conservative Likud with far-right and ultra-Orthodox) and, particularly, with its judicial reform project, which would give the Executive branch unprecedented control over the Supreme Court and It has generated a serious political and social crisis and the largest wave of demonstrations in the country's history.

A day later, McCarthy has avoided making a clear statement about the invitation.

Asked at a press conference in the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) if he will invite Netanyahu to the Chamber, he has confirmed his statements to the newspaper, but has limited himself to expressing his "hope" and his conviction that Biden will end up shaking hands with Netanyahu in Washington.

Then, he recalled that the Government and the opposition have been negotiating on the reform since the end of March under the auspices of the president, Isaac Herzog, and has indicated that all his interlocutors agree on the importance of "the separation of powers and balancing systems". among themselves.

I know there are differences of opinion.

Let the Israelis decide how to do it ”, he summarized.

The dialogue on the reform continues without producing progress,

according to supporters and detractors.

The last of them has been the leader of the opposition National Unity party, Benny Gantz, who has assured this Monday that no progress has been made "at all on any of the issues."

Accusations against Biden

The visit of the American politician coincides with the broadcast of a video in which the Israeli Justice Minister, Yariv Levin, one of the main promoters of the reform, is heard ensuring that the Biden Administration collaborates with its detractors.

"The US government operates cooperatively with them on this issue, which is evident from the things that government spokesmen say there," he said.

McCarthy, leading a delegation of Republican and Democratic congressmen, has become the second speaker of the House of Representatives to speak before the full Israeli Parliament, and the first in 25 years.

In his speech, with frequent biblical references and criticism of Iran, he has presented the Jewish state as a "modern miracle" that has just turned 75 as a "strong, innovative and blessed" country that "continues to inspire millions of people in the world” and whose “light shines brighter than ever”.

"As long as I am its president, the Chamber will continue to fully finance security aid to Israel", he pointed out in a speech often interrupted by the applause of the deputies.

Netanyahu, whom he met in the morning, listened with a slight smirk and nods.

Shortly before, the Israeli prime minister took the floor to underline the "strong bipartisan support" for his country in Washington and to remind the Biden Administration that the Iranian nuclear program "remains at the zenith of Israel's list of priorities."

“America has no better friend than Israel, nor Israel a better friend than the United States.

The best days are yet to come ”, he added.

He has also tried to reassure his main ally about the judicial reform project, postponed due to pressure in the streets to the parliamentary session that began on Monday and ends in July.

“Reaching [parliamentary] agreements is not always easy, you know that better than I do,” Netanyahu joked with McCarthy, alluding to his agonizing appointment last January after 15 votes.

"If you think it is difficult with two parties, try a Parliament with 12", he joked before highlighting - both in English and in Hebrew - that he will seek a "broad consensus" to move forward with the initiative, against which hundreds of thousands of Israelis have demonstrated every week since January.

Last week some 200,000 people took to the streets for the first time to support the legislative reform.

Netanyahu – whose party, the Likud, would obtain up to a third fewer deputies than in last November's elections if there were new elections, according to polls in recent days – does not seem willing to tighten the rope with Washington as much as in 2015. Last week he met in Jerusalem with Ron DeSantis, Florida governor and Donald Trump's main conservative rival for the Republican nomination for the White House in the 2024 elections, but his office did not release photos or videos of the meeting.

It was an apparent conciliatory gesture towards both Biden and Trump.

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