Several Democrats from the left had announced that they will not attend the address even before the date of the speech was announced. Their boycott is based on objections to the way Netanyahu has handled the situation with Hamas.
The address is a result of an invitation to Netanyahu last week by bipartisan leaders in the US Congress, among them Democrat Chuck Schumer, who is the Senate majority leader and one of the open critics of Netanyahu's policies. Schumer is the highest-ranking Jewish elected official of the US government and has, in recent weeks, called for new elections in Israel.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, announced the July 24 date late Thursday, saying he looked forward to hearing from Israel about democracy's defense, terrorism-fighting, and the establishment of sustainable peace in the region, in an invite to his social media post.
"We look forward to hearing the Israeli government's vision for defending democracy, combatting terror, and establishing a just and lasting peace in the region," Johnson wrote on social media.
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