Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin has been invited to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress as a farewell address prior to the end of his term on July 9, his spokesperson announced on Thursday.
Despite the invitation, it is not yet clear whether a joint session of Congress can take place in time due to coronavirus restrictions. “This has been under discussion for some time, but it all depends on the coronavirus restrictions,” Rivlin’s spokesperson told Ynet.
Rivlin received the invitation from the heads of both the Democratic and Republican caucuses in both houses of the Congress and Senate.
Rivlin has received invitations for a farewell address from other countries as well, including Romania, Bulgaria and Portugal.
According to a report in The Jerusalem Post, the honor of speaking in front of both houses of Congress has been bestowed upon five other Israeli leaders: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has spoken before both houses of Congress three times, a distinction he shares only with former British prime minister Winston Churchill; former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin who spoke twice; former president and prime minister Shimon Peres; former prime minister Ehud Olmert; and former president Chaim Herzog.
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
