Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participates in a photo op with Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson in the US Capitol in Washington, DC, February 7, 2025. (Photo: Annabelle Gordon/Sipa USA)
With many American Evangelical Christians and Israelis increasingly nervous about the Iran nuclear threat and White House efforts to cut a deal with Tehran, ALL ISRAEL NEWS can confirm an unsourced story in the U.S. media this morning that U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is coming to Israel later this month.
According to US and Israeli sources, Johnson will arrive in Israel on Saturday, June 21, and make a major address to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, on Sunday, June 22.
Johnson will also meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his brief weekend visit.
Johnson is coming at a time of steadily rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
Trump has been trying hard to negotiate a new nuclear deal with Tehran.
But Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei last week rejected such overtures, raising the prospect that Trump just might make good on his vow to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites to smithereens with Tehran refusing to accept a comprehensive and verifiable deal.
What Johnson will say about the Iran threat and growing prospect of war – or about the hostages and the future of Gaza – remains to be seen.
But Johnson has certainly and repeatedly demonstrated his pro-Israel credentials since becoming the third most powerful leader in the American government, starting with dramatically passing a $26 billion aid package for Israel in April 2024 when many skeptics doubted he could get it done.
A devout Evangelical Christian, Johnson has chosen to make the Jewish state the focus of one of his rare international trips.
He will be the first major American leader to visit since President Donald J. Trump came back to power in January and since Trump chose not to visit Israel during his Mideast tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates last month.
Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News was the first to report the story of Johnson’s upcoming visit.
“Johnson has been the speaker since October 2023 and has not taken many major international trips,” Sherman noted. “He attended a G7 head of parliament conference in Italy last fall.”
“The Louisiana Republican will become the third speaker in U.S. history to address the Knesset. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy spoke before the chamber in May 2023 amid a debt-limit standoff with former President Joe Biden. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich spoke to the Knesset in 1998.”
Sherman added that, “Johnson’s speakership has been intertwined with a pivotal chapter in Israel’s history. Johnson became speaker just weeks after the Oct. 7 attacks and the ensuing war in Gaza.”
He also noted that “the speaker’s visit comes at a perilous time for Netanyahu. The Knesset is set to vote today on a measure that could dissolve Netanyahu’s fragile governing coalition.”