Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is finding his scheduled visit to Washington in March to be extraordinarily controversial. The invitation to address a joint meeting of Congress came from the House speaker John Boehner who did not consult the Obama administration, an unprecedented snub. The controversy lies not just in the undiplomatic way the visit was arranged but what Netanyahu's speech will contain. He wants a hard-line approach taken against Iran for its nuclear-making capabilities, and will say so, while US lawmakers — though they passed a bill that would levy tough new sanctions on Iran if it fails to sign an agreement to curb its nuclear program — are holding off on a full Senate vote to see whether diplomatic negotiations yield a deal. It was a bad idea to arrange for Netanyahu to speak to a joint session of Congress without telling Obama or anyone in his administration about the invitation. Inviting a foreign leader to speak at the Capitol without even informing the president, let alone consulting him, is undercutting the man in the White House for which there is no recent precedent. It's hard to escape the view that this unorthodox arrangement was deliberate. It's hard to believe Netanyahu did not know Obama was not informed of the visit, especially that earlier, the White House announced that Obama could not meet Netanyahu while he was in town, as protocol dictates with any official running for elections. The truth is that Boehner, a Republican, and Netanyahu were obviously exploiting the situation for political gain. Netanyahu faces an election on March 17 in a contest in which national security and Iran are significant factors. Boehner is trying to undermine Obama and weaken his ability to govern. The political ramifications are clear. While the US-Israeli alliance is not based on personal friendships between their leaders, they help, and Netanyahu's relationship with Obama has been rocky from the start. As such, Israelis are highly critical of Obama, and may appreciate Netanyahu's standing up to him, but losing congressional Democrats would play differently. In Israel, maintaining bipartisan support in Congress is considered as crucial as preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, almost equal in severity. Netanyahu might have imagined that the speech will bolster his status as statesman, or he may have fantasized that somehow, by openly siding with the Republican Party, he could snatch US foreign policy out of Obama's hands. Instead he has given his challengers an opening to undermine his main campaign platform. In fact, Netanyahu lost the major benefit of the speech because the whole idea has now shifted to controversy. Meantime, Washington may not work as hard to rally to Israel's side in critical forums like the United Nations. This was a reckless act of political grandstanding, a little pre-election posturing by Netanyahu meeting up with Boehner's opportunism. To schedule the joint session immediately before a national election, to conspire behind Obama's back, is self-promotion with a high cost. For the second time this month, a Netanyahu invitation abroad, or none thereof, has stirred debate. His visit to France for the Paris rally following the Charlie Hebdo killings came after he was told by the French government to stay away from the solidarity march to avoid the commemoration of the 17 people who died in the attacks being clouded by the Middle East conflict. But he ignored the request and attended anyway, infuriating French President François Hollande. It seems wherever he goes these days, Netanyahu is courting controversy.
