Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will postpone his controversial speech to a joint session of Congress until March, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced Thursday.
{mosads}Boehner said Netanyahu, who was originally asked to speak on Feb. 11, had requested the change because he intends to attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington in early March. But that also means Netanyahu will speak just two weeks ahead of the Israeli elections, which polls indicate could be close.
The shift to March 3 could also be read as an olive branch to the Obama administration, which was not consulted before Boehner extended the invite.
Aides to the Speaker indicated they expect the Israeli leader to criticize President Obama’s efforts to broker a deal to ease sanctions in exchange for ending Iran’s nuclear weapons program in his address to Congress.
Netanyahu has denounced the negotiations in the past, saying Tehran lacks credibility. And the Israeli leader stands to benefit domestically by showing distance from Obama.
During Tuesday’s State of the Union address, Obama threatened to veto any legislation threatening Iran with additional sanctions if they walk away from the nuclear negotiations.
He has warned in the past that such a bill would jeopardize the talks and alienate allies, but a bipartisan group of lawmakers supporting the legislation argue that it is necessary to ensure the U.S. could ramp up penalties if negotiations fail.
The speech could be the latest evidence of the strained relationship between Obama and Netanyahu. Last fall, an unnamed administration official called Netanyahu a “chickens—” in an interview with The Atlantic and suggested the Israeli leader was too politically self-interested.
Last year, the Obama administration also condemned the bombing of a United Nations school in Gaza and temporarily blocked flights into Israel’s main airport, angering Netanyahu’s government.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Thursday that the administration had “been expressing our displeasure pretty clearly publicly” over the invite, which she cast as a breach of protocol.
“There’s no question the process here was a bit bizarre and certainly a bit unusual,” she said in an interview with CNN.
But Psaki also said the administration would support Netanyahu’s visit when the final details were determined.
“We haven’t had a conversation about everything they’ll talk about from here. I’m sure we will soon,” Psaki said.
Separately, the foreign ministers of Germany, France and England penned an op-ed in The Washington Post Thursday asking lawmakers to hold off on new sanctions legislation.
“Our responsibility is to make sure diplomacy is given the best possible chance to succeed,” the diplomats wrote. “Maintaining pressure on Iran through our existing sanctions is essential. But introducing new hurdles at this critical stage of the negotiations, including through additional nuclear-related sanctions legislation on Iran, would jeopardize our efforts at a critical juncture,” they wrote.