Israeli President to Address US Congress 

Israeli President Isaac Herzog is set to address the U.S. Congress, hailing U.S.-Israeli ties and “marking 75 years of Israel.”




The speech comes amid U.S. concerns about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to reform Israel’s court system and the expansion of Jewish settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.






The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution Tuesday reaffirming U.S. support for Israel. The resolution came in response to comments by Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who called Israel a “racist state” before later clarifying that she believes Netanyahu’s government “has engaged in discriminatory and outright racist policies and that there are extreme racists driving that policy within the leadership of the current government.”




Several Democratic lawmakers have said they will boycott Herzog’s address, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American in Congress.




Lawmakers have boycotted speeches by previous visiting leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to Congress last month.




Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.