Netanyahu Invitation to Address Congress Raises Eyebrows in US, Israel

US House Speaker John Boehner (R- Oh.) has touched off a tempest with his invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress on the issues of radical Islam and the Iranian nuclear threat. In the US, some believe the speaker is using Netanyahu to taunt President Obama, in particular because unlike most addresses by foreign leaders to Congress this one was not coordinated with the White House; and some believe it’s a Republican response to the virtual omission of the issues from this week’s State of the Union address and the president’s vow to veto pending Iranian sanctions legislation. For Israeli political opponents of Prime Minister Netanyahu, the gesture reeks of partisan politics in the form of a huge gift from Netanyahu’s Republican friends, specifically aimed to counter charges that the prime minister has squandered the sacrosanct US-Israel relationship often raised by Netanyahu detractors. They point to the timing of the address, which will be slightly more than one month before the Israeli election. Intrigue aside, Prime Minister Netanyahu will address Congress on February 11.