Netanyahu – Unwelcome Guest in US

• 02.26.2015, 20:30
•  America,  Near East,  World

The Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu is going to visit Washington next month two weeks before the parliamentary elections in Israel. His visit became the reason for many scandals. According to NBC News, the US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have announced they will not meet with Netanhayu during his visit to Washington. The White House cited a "long-standing practice" of avoiding appearances with heads of state in close proximity to their elections.

Netanyahu is going to address in a joint meeting of Congress. The invitation was extended by House Speaker John Boehner without consulting the White House. At the same time the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu declined the invitation to meet with the Democrats in the US Congress in his upcoming visit to Washington, Reuters reports. In a letter addressed to the Senators Durbin and Feinstein, who had invited Netanyahu to a closed-door meeting, the Israeli Prime-Minister thanked for the invitation and added: "I believe that doing so at this time could compound the misperception of partisanship regarding my upcoming visit." In response to Netanyahu’s letter, Durbin declared that the invitation aimed at balancing the invitation from Speaker Boeher to have a private meeting with democrats "who are committed to keeping the bipartisan support of Israel strong." In this regard he expressed his disappointment.

According to The New York Times, on Tuesday Netanyahu said that he was making the trip because it was his obligation to "do everything I can to prevent" a nuclear agreement with Iran. "Therefore, I will go to Washington to address the American Congress, because the American Congress is likely to be the final brake before the agreement between the major powers and Iran," he said. Susan E. Rice, President Obama’s National Security Adviser, sharply criticized Prime Minister of Israel on Tuesday over his plans to address a joint meeting of Congress next week, saying his actions may be destructive for Israel-US.