Israel’s President Builds Bipartisan Bridges in Address to Congress

“Israel and the United States will inevitably disagree on many matters,” said President Isaac Herzog.“But we will always remain family.”

President of Israel, Isaac Herzog addresses NATO. January 27, 2023. (Photo: NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

“Israel’s President Herzog will address Congress to commemorate the 75th anniversary of its statehood,” reported Kevin Freking for the Associated Press on June 29, 2023.

Reactions to the announcement, and the 75th anniversary of Israel’s statehood, were a rare point of bipartisan simpatico on Capitol Hill. Aside from a handful of progressive Democratic lawmakers who boycotted the speech this week — and a few ill-chosen words from Progressive Caucus leader Rep. Pramila Jayapal on the subject of Israel — President Herzog received a warm reception.

“Mr. Speaker, Madam Vice President, on November 10th, 1987, I was sitting at home with my wife, Michal, expecting our first child,” began President Isaac Herzog in an elegant address. “We were watching the first Israeli President invited to address a Joint Session of Congress, in honor of the State of Israel’s 40th year of independence. That president was my father. Standing here today, representing the Jewish, democratic State of Israel in its 75th year, at the very podium from which my late father, President Chaim Herzog spoke, is the honor of a lifetime.”