Speaker Johnson will travel to Israel to address country's parliament in late June

House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Wednesday that he will travel to Israel and address the Knesset, the country's parliament, on June 22.

"It will be one of the highest honors of my life to address the Israeli Knesset at this fateful moment," Johnson said in a statement posted on X. "Our ties run deeper than military partnerships and trade agreements. We're bound by the same beliefs, the same psalms, and the same sacred pursuit of liberty.

"Today, the State of Israel and Jewish people around the world face grave threats, and it is our moral imperative to stand by our sister democracy. As terror and vile antisemitic ideology threaten Western Civilization, Israel must know that when America said, 'Never Again,' we meant it," he also wrote.

Israel has been at war with the Palestinian-backed Hamas, which controls the region's Gaza Strip, since the militant group's October 2023 terror attack. 

The country, the United States' longest and closest Middle East ally, has more recently faced criticism in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere for appearing to be unwilling to reach a truce or peace deal – amid concerns about a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, of which the Israeli military has effectively taken control. 

Johnson will be the third House speaker to address the Knesset, following Republican former speakers Newt Gingrich and Kevin McCarthy, Punchbowl News reported.

"Mike Johnson is a great friend of the State of Israel and the Jewish people," Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana said in a statement. "From the moment he was elected, he not only expressed his support through words but also took decisive action, even at the risk of his position, to support Israel in its most challenging moments. I hold him in great esteem, believe he is highly deserving of addressing the Knesset, and look forward to hosting him and hearing his words to the nation."

Johnson is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem during his trip.