Photo Credit: Getty Images
Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu will address US lawmakers in Washington DC on 24 July. He will speak to both chambers of Congress - the Senate and the House of Representatives - as the Israel-Gaza war continues.
Republicans and Democrats both invited the prime minister to speak, but the date of his speech was not made official until Thursday.
Last month the International Criminal Court's prosecutor applied for arrest warrants against the Israeli leader and his defense minister, Yoav Galant, on charges related to the war.
Mr Netanyahu condemned the ICC move, saying he rejected with disgust that "democratic Israel" had been compared to what he called "mass murderers".
Mr Netanyahu said, according to a statement released by congressional leaders, that he was "very moved to have the privilege of representing Israel... to present the truth about our just war against those who seek to destroy us".
In their letter inviting the prime minister, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell - both Republicans - said they hoped Mr Netanyahu would take the opportunity to "share the Israeli government's vision for defending democracy, combating terror, and establishing a just and lasting peace in the region".
Mr Netanyahu's visit comes as that relationship with the US has grown tense, especially among leading US Democrats.
Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said in a separate statement that he supported the invitation despite his "clear and profound disagreements with the Prime Minister, which I have voiced both privately and publicly".
"But because America's relationship with Israel is ironclad and transcends one person or prime minister I joined the request for him to speak," he said.
US President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has also grown more critical of Israel as the war continues and the death toll in Gaza climbs.
Mr Biden, who is running for re-election in November, has come under political pressure from his party's left flank to do more to convince Israel to limit its war in Gaza.
Some progressive leaders, such as Sen Bernie Sanders of Vermont, have said they intend to boycott Mr Netanyahu's speech in protest at Israel's conduct in the Gaza Strip.
Lewis Musonye
