McCarthy vows he’ll invite Netanyahu to US if Biden doesn’t

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy knocked President Biden on Monday for not extending a White House invitation to Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu — and said he would bring the prime minister to Washington himself if the commander-in-chief fails to follow through.

“I think it’s too long now. He should invite him soon,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) told Israel Hayom newspaper while visiting Jerusalem. “If that doesn’t happen, I’ll invite the prime minister to come meet with the House. He’s a dear friend, as a prime minister of a country that we have our closest ties with.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

McCarthy, 58, arrived in Israel with a bipartisan delegation of House lawmakers to mark the Jewish state’s 75th anniversary, delivering an address to Israel’s parliament Monday afternoon.

He is only the second House speaker to speak to the Knesset, joining Newt Gingrich in 1998.

“I choose to come here today to celebrate the bond between our two countries and to reaffirm the bipartisan support for Israel in Congress,” McCarthy told Israeli lawmakers before announcing the creation of a House-Knesset inter-parliamentary group.

“Our values are your values. Our heritage is your heritage. Our dreams are your dreams,” McCarthy went on. “America is grateful for our friendship with Israel. We are a better nation because of it, and we must never shy away from defending it.”

During his speech, the California Republican also committed to “fully funding” US defense aid for Israel.

“To deter Iran’s dangerous behavior, our nations must continue to stand together. We, the United States, integrated Israel into our central command and are continuing to carry out military exercises together,” he said.

“As long as I am speaker, America will continue to support fully funding for security assistance in Israel. … We must always remain resolute in our commitment that Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon.”

Biden in March attacked Netanyahu’s plans to overhaul Israel’s judicial system, saying he was “very concerned” over the matter.

Netanyahu responded that Israel was “a sovereign country which makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends.”

“I have known President Biden for over 40 years, and I appreciate his longstanding commitment to Israel. The alliance between Israel and the United States is unbreakable and always overcomes the occasional disagreements between us,” the prime minister tweeted at the time.

“My administration is committed to strengthening democracy by restoring the proper balance between the three branches of government, which we are striving to achieve via a broad consensus.”

Asked by reporters Monday about lingering tensions over the judicial plan, McCarthy said he had heard from most Israelis he spoke with that reform was needed.

“But we leave it up to you to figure out what. It looks like the two sides are coming together — we look forward to you solving your problems,” he added.

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana welcomed his US counterpart on Sunday night with a surprise performance of the Eagles hit “Hotel California.”

The Republican House leader also visited the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center on Monday.

It was not immediately clear if a potential Netanyahu visit would include an address to Congress. Netanyahu has addressed joint meetings of the House and Senate three times during his various stints as Israel’s PM — once in 1996, again in 2011 and again in 2015.