Netanyahu Speech to Congress Could Threaten U.S.-Israel Relations

Oh, the drama.

At LAT, "Israelis wonder whether Netanyahu is risking too much in Obama tussle":

Has Bibi gone too far this time? That's the question a lot of Israelis are asking.

Even in a country where chutzpah is not necessarily viewed as a political liability, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's escalating tussle with the Obama administration is beginning to overshadow other election issues — and heightening fear of long-term damage to Israel's most vital friendship.

In the face of a rare public rebuke from President Obama amid the furor over the Israeli leader's planned address to a joint session of Congress next month, Netanyahu — universally known by his nickname, Bibi — yet again brushed aside criticism and declared that he would use the speech to warn against the dangers of a nuclear deal with Iran.

A bit of nose-thumbing at Washington is a long Israeli tradition. But what began weeks ago as a seeming breach of protocol — House Speaker John A. Boehner inviting Netanyahu to address lawmakers without first clearing it with the White House, and the prime minister pressing ahead despite Obama's evident displeasure — has grown into what some veteran diplomatic observers are describing as a full-blown threat to the staunch support that Washington has long offered Israel in the international arena.

"This is the sort of thing that leaves scars," former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Itamar Rabinovich said Monday, speaking on Israeli radio. "I fear that this sets the prime minister and the U.S. administration on a collision course."

With Israel's election campaign in full swing, and the prospective speaking date falling only two weeks before the March 17 vote, Netanyahu's election opponents have cried campaign foul since plans for the speech were unveiled.

In the latest salvo, Zehava Galon of the left-leaning Meretz party asked the main electoral body to block live broadcasts of the speech by Israeli media. Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog, Netanyahu's main opponent, called the planned address a "strategic" mistake.

The Netanyahu camp has denied any political motive for the speech. Netanyahu struck a conciliatory note Tuesday evening, with his office announcing that he had offered condolences over the death of U.S. hostage Kayla Mueller, who had been held captive by Islamic State militants. In the same statement, the prime minister appeared to be trying to lower the temperature on the speech controversy.

"This is not a personal disagreement between President Obama and me," the prime minister was quoted as saying. "I deeply appreciate all that he has done for Israel in many fields. Equally, I know that the president appreciates my responsibility, my foremost responsibility, to protect and defend the security of Israel. I am going to the United States not because I seek a confrontation with the president, but because I must fulfill my obligation to speak up on a matter that affects the very survival of my country." ...

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