Benjamin Netanyahu invitation threatens US support for Israel Geoff Dyer in Washington and John Reed in Jerusalem [image: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu]©AFP <http://www.ft.com/servicestools/terms/afp>
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu The invitation to Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu <http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/bab913f4-a18d-11e4-bd03-00144feab7de.html?siteedition=intl#axzz3PURUTyQQ>to address the Republican-controlled US Congress on Iran is the latest sign of partisan politics creeping into the relationship between the two countries. Mr Netanyahu said on Thursday that he had accepted the offer to speak to a joint session of Congress on March 3 — an event that the Obama White House was initially unaware of and which will take place just two weeks before Israeli elections. For the Israeli leader, the speech offers a powerful pre-election platform and a chance to influence the growing dispute between the White House and Congress over nuclear diplomacy with Iran <http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/44d195d0-9d9b-11e4-8ea3-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3PURUTyQQ>. But longer term, Israel risks losing the bipartisan sheen it has long enjoyed in Washington. “Republicans seem to think there is political advantage in being seen to be more pro-Israel than the Democrats,” said Natan Sachs, an Israeli political scientist at the Brookings Institution think-tank in Washington DC. “The question though is whether Israel starts to become more of a partisan issue in the US.” The invitation to Mr Netanyahu was made public by House Speaker John Boehner just hours after President Barack Obama threatened to veto new Iran sanctions legislation <http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/70385cdc-74c3-11e4-a418-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3PURUTyQQ>, which Republican leaders want to put up for a vote, on the grounds that it would jeopardise ongoing nuclear talks with Iran. Other foreign leaders have also weighed in on the issue. British prime minister David Cameron warned against new sanctions during a visit to Washington last week, while the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Britain and the EU wrote in a Washington Post opinion piece on Thursday that new sanctions legislation “would jeopardise our efforts at a critical juncture”. However, the invitation for Mr Netanyahu to share his scepticism about Iran nuclear diplomacy is part of a domestic power struggle. Since the Republican victory in the November midterms, Mr Obama has tried to assert his authority by issuing executive orders on matters such as immigration. In return, Republican leaders are trying to exert influence over issues usually dominated by the White House, most notably in foreign policy. Amid the ill-feeling between Mr Netanyahu and Mr Obama <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/92307cf4-4c8b-11e3-923d-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=uk>, the Israeli leader gave the impression during the 2012 US election that he would much rather see the Republican Mitt Romney in the White House. The biggest risk for Mr Netanyahu in entering the US debate on Iran is that if the nuclear diplomacy fails and the administration finds itself facing increased pressure to take military action against Tehran, a war-weary American public could blame Israel for drawing it into a new Middle East conflict. In Israel, news of the invitation brought a parallel accusation that Republicans were interfering in the March 17 election to support Mr Netanyahu. Shelly Yachimovich, an MP with the centre-left Labor-Hatnua party, which holds a slight lead over Mr Netanyahu’s Likud in opnion polls , said the invitation was “co-ordinated” with the prime minister. “It’s a very brutal and unacceptable bypass of the president of the United States,” Ms Yachimovich told Israeli radio. “And such a thing simply damages us.” Amid the furore surrounding Mr Netanyahu’s planned speech, the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad issued a rare public statement on Thursday denying reports that it had also warned American senators against new sanctions. John Kerry, the US secretary of state, said on Wednesday that an Israeli intelligence official told visiting senators that new sanctions would be equivalent to “throwing a grenade” into the talks with Iran. Mossad said the grenade line had been used in a different context. “The head of the Mossad noted that in negotiating with Iran, it is essential to present both carrots and sticks and that the latter are currently lacking. The head of the Mossad noted further that in the absence of strong pressure, the Iranians will make no meaningful compromises,” it said. -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
