Washington (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a proposed meeting with US Senate Democrats during his upcoming Washington visit, saying it would fuel "misperception of partisanship" over his planned address to Congress.
Netanyahu's decline, confirmed in a letter to Senators Dick Durbin and Dianne Feinstein seen by AFP, cast further attention Wednesday on an already contentious visit by the Israeli leader that has severely strained ties with President Barack Obama's administration.
US House Speaker John Boehner invited Netanyahu to address Congress March 3, but in an apparent breach of protocol the top Republican did so without consulting the White House or Democratic congressional leaders.
The senators, who sought a closed-door meeting between Netanyahu and the Democratic caucus, said in their invitation that Boehner's move "sacrifices deep and well-established cooperation on Israel for short-term partisan points."
They urged Netanyahu to meet with Democrats "to maintain Israel's dialogue with both political parties in Congress."
But the prime minister declined.
"I believe that doing so at this time could compound the misperception of partisanship regarding my upcoming visit," Netanyahu responded Tuesday.
"I can assure you that my sole intention in accepting it was to voice Israel's grave concerns about a potential nuclear agreement with Iran that could threaten the survival of my country," Netanyahu added.
Durbin, in a statement, said Netanyahu's "refusal to meet is disappointing to those of us who have stood by Israel for decades."Israel is believed to have nukes if so why are they trying to put their eggs in our basket as gung ho as BIBI is he could go ahead and bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran himself? another point we have not heard Iran express fear of a maniacal war crazed Netanyahu pushing the red button, which begs to question are they and have they been faking it as to being a super power it would explain the hurry to war agenda just sayin' if this is a point he's going about it in the wrong way America is war weary and republicans are chomping at the bit which would make them the logical ones to talk to but it's unclear as to whether congress can declare war without the Pres. i'm sure they would say they do but here's a link that might help
https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/can-congress-declare-war-without-the-consent-of-the-president
think about this he won't meet with Dems because it might appear partisan, wtf does he think meeting with nothing but right wing republicans looks like???
