YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO TAP
DANCE WITH US A LITTLE BIT.
I HAVE MY TAP DANCING SHOES ON.
NOT TO WORRY.. >>> HOUSE SPEAKER KEVIN
>>> HOUSE SPEAKER KEVIN
McCARTHY IS IN ISRAEL TO MARK
THE COUNTRY'S 75th ANNIVERSARY.
HE WILL BECOME THE SECOND
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE TO GIVE AN
ADDRESS TO THE ISRAELI
PARLIAMENT. NBC NEWS FOREIGN
CORRESPONDENT RAF SANCHEZ IS IN
TEL AVIV TO JOIN US WITH THE
LATEST . GOOD MORNING TO YOU.
WHAT IS ON SPEAKER McCARTHY'S
AGENDA WHILE HE IS IN THE
COUNTRY?
>> Reporter: AS WE SPEAK, McCARTHY IS MEETING ISRAELI
McCARTHY IS MEETING ISRAELI
PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN
NETANYAHU.
THESE TWO MEN HAVE KNOWN EACH
OTHER FOR A LONG TIME.
THEY ARE MEETING ONE-ON-ONE,
AND WITH THE EXPANDED
DELEGATION OF BOTH DEMOCRATS
AND REPUBLICANS IN THE HOUSE.
ISRAEL IS THE NUMBER ONE
RECIPIENT OF ISRAELI MILITARY
AID, WHICH HAD TO BE APPROVED
BY CONGRESS . SO NETANYAHU MADE
A REAL POINT ABOUT MAINTAINING
RELATIONSHIPS NOT JUST WITH THE
WHITE HOUSE BUT WITH
CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS. McCARTHY WILL BECOME ONLY THE
McCARTHY WILL BECOME ONLY THE
SECOND AMERICAN HE'S SPEAKER
THERE IN HISTORY WHO SPOKE WITH
ISRAELI PARLIAMENT.
THE FIRST WAS NEWT GINGRICH
BACK IN 1998.
THOSE WERE THE BUSINESS PARTS
OF THE TRIP.
THERE HAS BEEN A NUMBER OF
CEREMONIAL FUNCTIONS WITH McCARTHY VISITING THE WESTERN
McCARTHY VISITING THE WESTERN
WALL IN JERUSALEM AND THE
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL IN ISRAEL.
>> WE KNOW THERE ARE TENSIONS
BETWEEN THE U.S. AND ISRAEL.
PRESIDENT BIDEN SAID HE DOES
NOT PLAN TO INVITE PRIME
MINISTER NETANYAHU TO THE WHITE
HOUSE ANYTIME SOON BECAUSE OF
HIS GOVERNMENT CONTROVERSIAL
JUDICIAL REFORMS THAT HAVE WORKED SO MUCH OUTRAGE, SO HAS
WORKED SO MUCH OUTRAGE, SO HAS
THAT ISSUE COME UP AT ALL WITH
SPEAKER McCARTHY?
>> YEAH.
IT SURE HAS BEEN McCARTHY,
TELLING A RIGHT-WING ISRAELI
NEWSPAPER THAT IF PRESIDENT
BIDEN DOES NOT HURRY UP AND
INVITE NETANYAHU TO WASHINGTON,
McCARTHY IS GOING TO DO IT
HIMSELF.
HE WILL INVITE THE ISRAELI
PRIME MINISTER TO SPEAK TO A
JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS.
NETANYAHU NEEDS TO TREAD A
LITTLE BIT CAREFULLY HERE HE
HAS BEEN BURNED IN THE PAST,
ACCUSED OF MEDDLING IN AMERICAN
POLITICS BY BEING TOO CLOSE TO
THE REPUBLICANS.
BACK IN 2015, HE DEFIED
PRESIDENT OBAMA BY SPEAKING TO
CONGRESS AND OPPOSING OBAMA'S
2015 NUCLEAR DEAL WITH IRAN.
HE WAS ALSO ACCUSED OF BEING
TOO CLOSE TO PRESIDENT TRUMP AT TIMES, AND THIS QUESTION OF A
TIMES, AND THIS QUESTION OF A
NEW DIVIDED WAS HOUSE HAS
BECOME AN ISRAELI POLITICAL
ISSUE.
SOME OF THAT SANHEIM WHO'S IN A
POSITION SAID HE HAS SO
MISMANAGED ISRAEL'S RELATIONSHIP
WITH ITS MOST IMPORTANT ALLY
THAT HE CAN'T EVEN GET AN
INVITE TO THE WHITE HOUSE,
SOMETHING THAT'S USUALLY
TRADITIONAL FOR AN ISRAELI
PRIME MINISTER SECURE, SO WE
WILL SEE AN INVITE ENDS UP
COMING EITHER FROM THE WHITE
HOUSE FROM THE OTHER END OF
PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE SOMETIME SOON.
SOON.
>> IT'S BECOME QUITE
CONTROVERSIAL, WEALTH.
SPEAKING OF, JUDICIAL REFORMS,
WHERE DO THEY STAND RIGHT NOW?
DOES PARLIAMENT PLAN TO TAKE UP
THAT ISSUE?
>> Reporter: IT IS A GOOD
QUESTION, AND ONLY NETANYAHU
KNOWS THE ANSWER TO IT.
BACK IN MARCH, HE HIT PAUSE ON
THESE CONTROVERSIAL JUDICIAL OVERHAUL IN THE FACE OF THESE
OVERHAUL IN THE FACE OF THESE
MASSIVE PROTESTS.
HE PROMISED AT THE TIME THAT HE
WOULD PASS THE OVERHAUL IN SOME
FORM BY THE END OF THIS SESSION
OF PARLIAMENT, BUT NO ONE
REALLY KNOWS AT THIS STAGE
WHETHER HE WILL GO THROUGH WITH
IT OR NOT . THERE ARE
NEGOTIATIONS GOING ON BETWEEN
NETANYAHU AND THE ISRAELI
OPPOSITION TO FIND SOME KIND OF
COMPROMISE.
NETANYAHU IS UNDER MAJOR
PRESSURE FROM HIS RIGHT-WING
SUPPORTERS TO MAKE SURE THIS
OVERHAUL DOES GO THROUGH.
THERE'S A BIG MARGIN JERUSALEM
LAST WEEK, BUT HE'S ALSO OTHER MAJOR PRESSURE FROM ISRAEL'S
MAJOR PRESSURE FROM ISRAEL'S