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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Netanyahu’s ready to talk to Congress, even if some lawmakers aren’t ready to listen


Israeli Prime Minister and Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu waves to supporters in Jerusalem on Feb. 8. (Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images)

PAUL KANE, SEAN SULLIVAN 
FEBRUARY 9, 2015

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed his intentions Monday to deliver a controversial address to Congress next month. There have been simmering tensions over his plan to use the speech to oppose talks with Iran over its nuclear program.

At a conference in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu said he is determined to present Israel’s objections to the deal being worked out between the United States and Iran, while in Washington, President Obama defended his administration’s efforts to strike a deal that has the support of allies such as Germany and Britain.

Caught in the middle is a Congress that has seen the normally routine, bipartisan act of occasionally hearing from foreign dignitaries turn into a domestic and international flash point. The discord follows a decision by House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to invite Netanyahu to make the March 3 address without first consulting the White House or State Department.

Democrats on Capitol Hill have accused Republicans of breaching protocol to slight Obama, while Netanyahu’s critics at home have called it a political stunt designed to boost his chances at winning reelection in a vote two weeks later. Democratic allies of Israel are working behind the scenes to find an alternative set of meetings that would demonstrate bipartisan support for the nation without going forward with the congressional address.

Some Democrats are considering boycotting the speech, Vice President Biden has cited a scheduling conflict that will keep him from his normal role of appearing at the speech, and speculation was building over the weekend that the address might get jettisoned.

But Republican aides said they have seen no political fallout for GOP leaders here, and as long as Netanyahu felt his home-front politics would not be harmed by the speech, the decision was to move full-speed ahead.

In addressing the issue Monday, Netanyahu made clear that his goal was to disrupt the administration’s talks, conducted along with five other global powers, designed to prevent Iran’s nuclear program from expanding beyond domestic energy use. The prime minister, and his conservative allies in Washington, fear that a deal would preserve Iran’s ability to point its uranium-enrichment program toward military use, including the development of a nuclear bomb.

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