House Speaker John Boehner will travel to Jerusalem sometime in the next two weeks to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a top Israeli government official told CNN Friday.
According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the speaker’s trip will begin March 31, and he’ll be leading a congressional delegation of Republican lawmakers. The visit was planned before the Israeli election, according to the paper, but it will be a “victory celebration” for the prime minister.
Boehner’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
It’s the latest move by the House Speaker that’s sure to amplify a growing partisan divide over Israel, as the show of support from Republicans comes just as President Barack Obama is warning Netanyahu that he may have done irreparable damage to Israel’s ties with the U.S. with his speech to Congress earlier this month and comments he made in the final days of his re-election campaign regarding opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state. Netanyahu has since walked back those comments.
Boehner invited the Israeli leader to speak in Congress, and Netanyahu accepted, without consulting with the President first, a move that incensed the White House and strained already tense relations between the two leaders.