{The US and Israel escalated their increasingly public spat Wednesday over Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s Republican-engineered congressional speech next week, with the Israeli prime minister accusing world powers of allowing Tehran to develop nuclear weapons.} <\/p>\n
Secretary of State John Kerry openly questioned Netanyahu\u2019s judgment on the issue.<\/p>\n
The comments injected new tension into an already strained relationship between the close allies ahead of Netanyahu\u2019s address to Congress next Tuesday. More Democratic lawmakers announced they would skip the speech, which was orchestrated by Republican leaders without the Obama administration\u2019s knowledge.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu hopes his speech will strengthen opposition to a potential nuclear deal with Iran, President Barack Obama\u2019s signature foreign policy objective. U.S. and Iranian officials reported progress in negotiations this week on a deal that would clamp down on Tehran\u2019s nuclear activities for at least 10 years but then slowly ease restrictions.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu lashed out at the U.S. and other usual staunch allies of Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt appears that they have given up on that commitment and are accepting that Iran will gradually, within a few years, will develop capabilities to produce material for many nuclear weapons,\u201d he said in Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey might accept this but I am not willing to accept this,\u201d he said in remarks delivered in Hebrew and translated. \u201cI respect the White House, I respect the president of the United States, but in such a fateful matter that can determine if we exist or not, it is my duty to do everything to prevent this great danger to the state of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kerry, testifying at a congressional hearing, dismissed Netanyahu\u2019s worries. He argued that a 2013 interim agreement with Iran that the prime minister also opposed had in fact made Israel safer by freezing key aspects of the Islamic republic\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe may have a judgment that just may not be correct here,\u201d Kerry said. His comments, as well as statements from other top U.S. officials, made clear the Obama administration had no plans to mask its frustrations during Netanyahu\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n
In an interview Tuesday, National Security Adviser Susan Rice said plans for Netanyahu\u2019s speech had \u201cinjected a degree of partisanship\u201d into a U.S.-Israel relationship that should be above politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s destructive to the fabric of the relationship,\u201d Rice told the Charlie Rose show. \u201cIt\u2019s always been bipartisan. We need to keep it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Netanyahu\u2019s plans to speak to Congress have irritated many Democratic members, but also have put them in a difficult spot \u2013 fearing they will look anti-Israel if they don\u2019t attend.<\/p>\n
Still, a number of Democrats have said they plan to skip the session, including Sen. Tim Kaine, who said Netanyahu\u2019s speech was \u201chighly inappropriate\u201d given its proximity to Israel\u2019s March 17 Israeli elections.<\/p>\n
Senate Democrats invited Netanyahu to meet with them privately while he is in Washington, but the Israeli leader refused the invitation, saying such a meeting could \u201ccompound the misperception of partisanship\u201d surrounding his visit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI regret that the invitation to address the special joint session of Congress has been perceived by some to be political or partisan,\u201d Netanyahu wrote in a letter to Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Dianne Feinstein of California. \u201cI can assure you that my sole intention in accepting it was to voice Israel\u2019s grave concerns\u201d about a nuclear deal with Iran.<\/p>\n
Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.<\/p>\n
The White House has been weighing ways to counter Netanyahu\u2019s address to Congress, as well as his separate speech to the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The administration is considering whom to send to the conference, with some officials pushing for a lower-level representative than normal.<\/p>\n
There are no plans for Obama to meet with Netanyahu next week. The White House has cited its practice of not engaging with world leaders in close proximity to their elections, though it\u2019s no secret that Obama and his Israeli counterpart have little personal affinity for each other.<\/p>\n
Other top administration officials plan to be out of the country during Netanyahu\u2019s visit, including Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden. Both will be abroad on trips that were announced only after Netanyahu accepted the GOP invitation to speak to Congress.<\/p>\n
(AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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