7 Pro-Israel Lawmakers Warn Ron Dermer on ‘Partisan’ Speech by Benjamin Netanyahu
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Seven Jewish Congressmen held a tense meeting with Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Ron Dermer, on Wednesday and expressed their concern and dissatisfaction over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to arrange for himself an invitation from House Speaker John Boehner to address the Congress.
According to Politico, the seven – who consider themselves staunchly pro-Israel – criticized the decision and suggested that Netanyahu meet privately with American lawmakers instead of speaking publicly before Congress.
The meeting was “spirited,” according to a statement by Rep. Steve Israel’s office, where the meeting took place. The seven Congressmen told Dermer that the step could make Israel a partisan issue between Democrats and Republicans, forcing them to choose between Obama and Netanyahu.
“I organized the meeting with Ambassador Dermer, and I invited key Congressional Democratic supporters of Israel to attend,” Rep. Israel (D-NY) said, according to Politico. “There were a wide range of views that were discussed, but one thing we all agreed on emphatically is that Israel should never be used as a political football.”
In addition to Israel, the meeting was attended by Reps. Jerry Nadler, Nita Lowey of New York; Jan Schakowsky of Illinois; Sander Levin of Michigan; and Ted Deutch and Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida. American-born Dermer has been Israel’s envoy to the U.S. since 2013.
Netanyahu is slated to address the U.S. Congress next month on the issue of the nuclear talks with Iran. The invitation was extended by House Speaker John Boehner– and accepted by Netanyahu – without coordination with the White House, causing diplomatic tension between the two countries.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the minority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, met Wednesday with Yuli Edelstein, the Knesset speaker who is on a U.S. visit. She likened the circumstances of Netanyahu’s agreeing to speak to Congress March 3 to “casting a political apple of discord into the relationship” between Israel and the United States, Drew Hammill, a Pelosi spokesman, said.
Joining Pelosi in the meeting were two top Jewish lawmakers, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the senior Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, as well as Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the party’s assistant House leader.
The stumble was the latest wrinkle in tensions arising from Boehner’s Jan. 21 invitation to Netanyahu to speak to Congress in order to rebut President Barack Obama’s defense of nuclear talks underway with Iran. Netanyahu says the talks will result in a bad deal.
Edelstein, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, had met separately Wednesday with Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), the Speaker of the House. Israeli officials hastily arranged a meeting with Pelosi when they realized that she had not been invited to the meeting with Boehner.
Boehner arranged the speech with Ron Dermer, Israel’s Washington envoy, who agreed to keep the meeting a secret from the Obama administration and Democrats for nearly two weeks. Boehner timed the invitation for the day after Obama’s State of the Union speech.
Politico reported that some Democrats may not attend the speech. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), who is Jewish, told the newspaper he is still considering whether to attend; together with Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), he is circulating a letter among Democrats that would urge Boehner to postpone the speech until after Israel’s March 17 election and after the Senate considers new Iran sanctions.
Obama has pledged to veto the Iran sanctions, which Republicans back. A key group of Senate Democrats say they will delay consideration of the sanctions until a March 24 deadline for the outline of a deal between Iran and the major powers that would swap sanctions relief for guarantees that Iran is not advancing toward a nuclear weapon.
Obama administration officials have pledged not to meet Netanyahu during his visit, also timed for the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, because doing so would be inappropriate so close to Israel’s March 17 vote.
That places Vice President Joe Biden, who is close to Netanyahu, in a potential predicament. As an official of the administration, he is bound not to meet with Netanyahu; as the president of the Senate, he would join Boehner in presiding over a joint meeting of Congress.
Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, said Wednesday at the daily media briefing that it was not clear yet whether Biden would attend, although he noted that Biden enjoys his congressional responsibilities and has presided at all but one joint speech by a foreign leader to Congress.
Earnest said the speech was helping to create an impression that Netanyahu had a relationship with Republicans at the expense of Democrats.
“One of the concerns about the breach in protocol that we’ve seen and articulated is that it might cause some to view the relationship between the United States and Israel as a relationship between one political party in Israel and one political party in the United States,” he said. “The president does not believe that would be a positive development in our relationship.”
Asked if the White House would encourage Democrats to attend the speech, Earnest said, “the president believes that individual members ought to decide for themselves. “
With JTA
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