|
 Bernadette Meehan, spokeswoman for the White House National
Security Council, said Obama was withholding an invitation for Oval
Office talks with Netanyahu because of Israel's March 17 elections.
“As a matter of long-standing practice and principle, we do not see
heads of state or candidates in close proximity to their elections,
so as to avoid the appearance of influencing a democratic election
in a foreign country," Meehan said in statement.
"Accordingly, the president will not be meeting with Prime Minister
Netanyahu because of the proximity to the Israeli election, which is
just two weeks after his planned address to the U.S. Congress."
Earlier on Thursday, Netanyahu announced that he would address
Congress in March.
The decision by Obama, whose relationship with Netanyahu has often
been tense, might be interpreted as a snub because leaders from
Israel, a staunch U.S. ally, are almost always afforded talks with
the American president on trips to Washington.
Netanyahu has accused Obama of making too many concessions to Iran
for too little in return in nuclear talks between Tehran and world
powers, and his visit could set up a diplomatic showdown on an issue
that has divided Obama and congressional Republicans.
The White House declined to say if Netanyahu had sought a meeting
with Obama, but an Israeli official, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said on Wednesday the Israeli prime minister was looking
into the possibility of talks with the president during the visit.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a news briefing that
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also would not be meeting with
Netanyahu during the visit, citing the upcoming Israeli elections.
The White House said on Wednesday the invitation to Netanyahu,
issued by Obama's Republican congressional opponents without
consulting him, was a breach of diplomatic protocol.
DEMOCRATS CRY FOUL
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner announced the
invitation to Netanyahu on Wednesday, a day after Obama pledged in
his State of the Union address to veto new Iran sanctions
legislation being developed in Congress.
Netanyahu's government issued a statement on Thursday saying the
invitation had been extended by the "two-party leadership" of
Congress, but congressional aides said they knew of no members of
the Democratic party who had been consulted.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said the invitation to
Netanyahu by Boehner was "hubris."
"It's out of the ordinary that the Speaker would decide that he
would be inviting people to a joint session without any bipartisan
consultation," she said at a weekly news conference.
Pelosi said she did not think Netanyahu's visit on March 3 was
"appropriate and helpful" two weeks before elections in his own
country and amid delicate international talks to curb Iran's nuclear
program.
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U.S. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said on Thursday that
Republican congressional leaders had not consulted him on inviting
Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress, but he said he
would welcome the speech.
Shortly before Netanyahu's formal acceptance of the invitation,
Israel's Mossad intelligence chief publicly closed ranks with the
right-wing prime minister, denying in a rare press statement reports
that he opposed further sanctions on Iran while world powers
negotiate with the Islamic Republic on limits to its disputed
nuclear program.
Meehan said Obama and Netanyahu had spoken frequently on Iran and
would remain in contact on the issue.
In his statement, Netanyahu said he was "honored to accept the
invitation" and that he would use the speech "to thank President
Barack Obama, Congress and the American people for their support of
Israel".
On his Twitter page, Boehner said the Congressional address was
scheduled for March 3, two weeks before Israel's general election in
which Netanyahu is vying for a fourth term.
Netanyahu's office said the Israeli leader would also attend the
March 1 to 3 annual policy conference in Washington of the prominent
pro-Israel AIPAC lobby.
Israeli political commentators portrayed Boehner's invitation as
either a Republican attempt to give Netanyahu a boost in the
election campaign or an Israeli bid to meddle in U.S. politics, or
both.
Some analysts said, however, that a third Netanyahu address to
Congress would have little impact on Israelis long accustomed to his
oratory skills in English on the international stage.
His main challenger in what polls show is a neck-and-neck race,
Labour Party chief Isaac Herzog, cautioned against further straining
Netanyahu's relations with Obama.
"We need the president on our side, day and night, on so many
sensitive and important issues," Herzog said.
(Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell and Patricia Zengerle;
Editing by Mark Heinrich, Toni Reinhold)
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