McCarthy says if Biden doesn't invite Netanyahu to US, he will

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said if President Joe Biden does not invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the United States, he will.

The California Republican, who is leading a bipartisan delegation to the Middle East in his first overseas trip as speaker, told Israel Hayom on Sunday that Biden "should invite Netanyahu soon."

McCarthy also said that he invited Israeli President Isaac Herzog to speak to Congress in honor of Israel's 75th Independence Day.

"Bibi [Netanyahu] should also come to America and if the President won't invite him – I will," he also said.

McCarthy's remarks on Sunday come after reporters asked Biden in March whether he would invite Netanyahu to the White House amid chaos surrounding judicial reform in Israel. 

"Not in the near term," Biden said at the time, after U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides said earlier that day that Netanyahu would be invited soon.

Biden also said in late March that he did not speak to Netanyahu but instead "delivered a message through our ambassador."

The Biden administration has been critical of Israel over its proposed judicial reforms, which give the Knesset more power in picking new Israeli Supreme Court justices.

Madeleine Hubbard is an international correspondent for Just the News. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.