WASHINGTON – The Israeli prime minister’s upcoming speech to Congress without President Barack Obama’s blessing has angered Democratic lawmakers, but they see little remedy except to hope for minimal damage to their party and U.S.-Israel relations.
Democrats simmered in frustration as they faced a thankless choice between defending their president and defending a country they consider a vital ally.
Some gleeful Republicans predicted Democrats’ complaints about Benjamin Netanyahu’s March 3 speech will drive Jewish voters to the GOP.
Democrats reject such talk, saying Republicans repeatedly have overstated their appeal to Jewish voters. Obama got 78 percent of the Jewish vote in 2008, and 69 percent in 2012, according to exit polls. Congressional Democrats won two-thirds of Jewish votes in last fall’s elections, an especially bad year for their party.
Republicans want to portray Democrats as less supportive of Israel, “but no matter how much they try, they can’t move Jewish voters on this issue,” said Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of the liberal pro-Israel group J Street.
House Democrats say Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, showed disrespect to the president – and perhaps cynical political goals – when he invited Netanyahu. Presidents can’t veto congressional speakers, but they usually are consulted.
Many Democrats object for three reasons: The invitation rebukes Obama; the speech, scheduled three weeks before Israel’s elections, might be designed to boost Netanyahu’s re-election hopes; and Netanyahu is certain to back new penalties against Iran that the Obama administration and Western powers argue could scuttle sensitive negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.
Obama’s chief concern about the break in protocol, his spokesman Josh Earnest said, “is to ensure that the strong relationship between the United States and Israel is protected from partisan politics.”
In the House, several veteran Democrats say they won’t attend Netanyahu’s address. The way it was scheduled was “an affront to the president and the State Department,” said Rep. John Lewis of Georgia.
The speaker of the House and the vice president traditionally sit behind the featured guest during a congressional address. But the White House said Friday that Vice President Joe Biden will be abroad that day.
Obama and Netanyahu have clashed repeatedly over the years, even though both say a close U.S.-Israel alliance is essential. Only days ago, the White House again criticized Israel’s policy of building Jewish settlements on West Bank and East Jerusalem areas that Palestinians claim.
Obama says a Mideast peace deal must include a Palestinian state based on territory Israel captured in 1967, with “mutually agreed upon swaps” to ensure Israel’s security. Netanyahu rejects a return to those borders, and the Jewish settlements complicate efforts to divide territory.
Associated Press writers Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Andrew Taylor in Washington contributed to this report.
