National Security Advisor Susan Rice sharply criticized the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Congress next week as “destructive,” just the latest shot in a back-and-forth between the White House and Netanyahu.
Rice said Tuesday that Netanyahu’s decision to accept a unilateral invitation from House Speaker John Boehner behind President Barack Obama and his administration’s backs injected politics and “a degree of partisanship” into the U.S.-Israeli relationship. Netanyahu will address Congress next week where he is expected to sound the alarm over Iran and negotiations underway in Geneva.
“What has happened over the last several weeks, by virtue of the invitation that was issued by the Speaker, the acceptance of it by Prime Minister Netanyahu on two weeks in advance of his election, is that on both sides there has now been injected a degree of partisanship which is not only unfortunate but it’s destructive of the fabric of the relationship,” Rice said Tuesday in an interview with Charlie Rose on PBS.
Rice added that the relationship between Israel and the U.S. “has always been bipartisan.”
Administration officials and American diplomats were fuming after Boehner announced that Netanyahu would address Congress about Iran. Obama asked Netanyahu over the phone just about a week before to give him some space on negotiations with Iran and not lobby against his position and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer met with Secretary of State John Kerry just a day before without mentioning plans for the address.
Some Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Patrick Leahy, plan to skip out on Netanyahu’s address because of the snub and because Netanyahu will be directly opposing Obama’s diplomatic efforts on Iran. And Israeli leaders, including former President Shimon Peres, have criticized Netanyahu’s visit as damaging to the relationship with the United States.
Netanyahu is looking to capitalize on his visit as the Israelis head to the polls just two weeks later. Netanyahu has already made a point of emphasizing his decision to keep the visit on his schedule in the face of opposition from Obama and Democrats in statements and in postings on social media.
In a televised address earlier this month, Netanyhau cited a “profound disagreement” with the U.S. administration and the five powers negotiating with Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions.
“I am going to the United States not because I seek a confrontation with the President, but because I must fulfill my obligation to speak up on a matter that affects the very survival of my country,” Netanyahu said.