Planned Netanyahu Speech to US Congress Roundly Criticized in Israel
Many who are critical or supportive of Israel in the United States rarely understand that Israeli politics are quite complex, probably even more so than the US. Netanyahu’s planned speech to Congress in March might have ruffled some feathers here, but in Israel Bibi’s opponents and many others are calling foul.
Criticism of Netanyahu’s planned U.S. speech mounts in Israel
By Joel Greenberg, McClatchy Foreign Staff
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing growing criticism in Israel for a planned speech to the U.S. Congress about Iran, accused by his political rivals of damaging ties with Washington to promote his election campaign.
Netanyahu accepted an invitation from House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to address a joint session of Congress on March 3, two weeks before the Israeli elections.
The invitation was not coordinated with the White House and it was widely seen as a Republican attempt to enlist Netanyahu, who advocates tougher measures against Iran, in the dispute with President Barack Obama over whether to impose new sanctions on Iran.
In Israel, critics have characterized Netanyahu’s trip as an election ploy and a slap in the face of the Obama administration after it’s worked hard to deflect challenges to Israel at the United Nations and most recently at the International Criminal Court.
Israeli media have highlighted the White House announcement that Obama would not meet with Netanyahu during his visit, calling it a sign that Netanyahu’s strained relationship with the president had sunk to a new low.
But the prime minister’s rivals in the election campaign accuse him of alienating Obama and damaging Israel’s strategic alliance with Washington.
“Netanyahu is directly hurting the president of the United States,” Yitzhak Herzog, head of the opposition Labor party, told Army Radio on Sunday. His joint slate with Tzipi Livni, a former justice minister, is running neck-and-neck with Netanyahu’s Likud party, according to recent polls.
“What Netanyahu is doing with this brutish behavior is harming Israel’s security interests,” Herzog added. “The American political system can’t stand this behavior.”
Yair Lapid, a former finance minister who heads Yesh Atid, a centrist party, accused Netanyahu of “destroying our strategic relations with the United States for an election speech.”
Zehava Galon, leader of the leftist Meretz party, filed an appeal to the head of the Israeli election commission, demanding that it bar live broadcasts of Netanyahu’s address to Congress. Under Israeli election laws, campaign messages are prohibited on radio and television starting two weeks before the vote.
Michael Oren, Israel’s previous ambassador to the United States, joined the chorus of criticism Saturday, urging Netanyahu to cancel his planned speech.
Running for Parliament with a new party, Kulanu, Oren said Netanyahu’s conduct had “created the impression that this is a cynical political move, and it could hurt our efforts to act against Iran.”