Israeli leader to deliver politically charged address to Congress

Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu will address a joint session of Congress today in one of the most politically divisive speeches by a foreign leader in the United States in modern times.

In the face of strong opposition from US president Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats in Congress, Mr Netanyahu will make a speech at the US Capitol, having accepted an invitation from Republican speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner.

He is expected to criticise the US-led talks with Iran on its nuclear programme ahead of a March 31st deadline to agree an outline of a deal.

Mr Boehner extended the invitation without notifying the White House, which, it said, was a breach of normal diplomatic protocol and should not proceed before Israel's March 17th elections, when Mr Netanyahu is seeking a fourth term.

The Israeli leader, who has been accused of playing politics by appealing to the far right in his home country with a forceful speech in Washington against the talks, wants Iran’s nuclear programme dismantled, not curbed for at least a decade as proposed in the negotiations.

The White House, as the executive branch of government, holds traditional responsibility for leading US foreign policy, making the congressional invitation to a sovereign leader highly unusual and leaving Mr Boehner open to accusations of politicising the Iranian talks.

Democrats see Mr Boehner’s invitation as a Republican attack on Mr Obama over a contentious policy that has angered some of his own party.

Mr Obama has refused to meet Mr Netanyahu to avoid the appearance of seeking to influence the elections. Vice-president Joe Biden, who would normally attend a joint session of Congress as president of the Senate, is visiting Guatemala today. More than 40 Democrats are boycotting the Israeli leader's speech, according to Washington political news organisation, The Hill.

Mr Netanyahu attempted yesterday to ease tensions with the White House by saying that he hoped the two countries would “weather this current disagreement”, although he challenged criticism of his decision to speak.

In an address to the annual policy conference of the powerful pro-Israeli lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, in Washington, Mr Netanyahu said that reports of "the demise of US-Israeli relations are not only premature, they're just wrong".

His address was “not intended to show any disrespect to President Obama or the esteemed office that he holds”, he told an audience of 16,000 on the first day of the lobby’s conference, nor was it intended to “inject Israel into the American partisan debate”.

The purpose of his speech was to “speak up about a potential deal with Iran that could threaten the survival of Israel.”

“As prime minister of Israel, I have a moral obligation to speak up in the face of these dangers while there is still time to avert them,” he said.

Six days after Mr Obama's national security adviser Susan Rice described Mr Netanyahu's speech as "destructive" to US- Israeli relations, the Obama administration struck a more conciliatory tone.

The US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power told the AIPC conference before Mr Netanyahu's speech that the US alliance with Israel was still "a national commitment" and that their relations "should never be a partisan matter".

“We believe firmly that Israel’s security and the US-Israel partnership transcends politics – it always will,” the Irish-born ambassador said. “This partnership should never be politicised and it cannot and will not be tarnished or broken.”

Mr Obama has clashed with Republicans and some Democrats who want to impose fresh sanctions on Iran, urging them to hold off to allow an opportunity for a diplomatic resolution with Tehran, a key second-term goal for the president. Mr Netanyahu’s speech is seen as intervening at a highly partisan moment in the domestic debate.

The bad blood between the US and Israeli leadership marks the latest tensions between the two leaders whose tense relations have at times bubbled over in public. In 2011 Mr Obama was caught complaining about the Israeli leader on an open microphone in a conversation with then French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who described Mr Netanyahu as a "liar."

The Israeli leader was perceived as backing Mr Obama's opponent, Republican candidate Mitt Romney, in the 2012 presidential race.