Obama Aide Calls Netanyahu’s Planned Visit ‘Destructive’ to U.S.-Israel Ties
Source: New York Times
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVISFEB. 25, 2015
WASHINGTON Susan E. Rice, President Obamas national security adviser, sharply criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Tuesday over his plans to address a joint meeting of Congress next week, saying his actions had hurt his nations relationship with the United States.
Mr. Netanyahus decision to travel to Washington to deliver the speech two weeks before the Israeli elections has injected a degree of partisanship, which is not only unfortunate, I think its destructive of the fabric of the relationship, Ms. Rice said in an interview on the PBS television program Charlie Rose.
Her comments marked the strongest public rebuke to date by the Obama administration since Mr. Netanyahu accepted an invitation from Speaker John A. Boehner to make his case to Congress against a nuclear deal with Iran, which is a priority of Mr. Obamas. It is also the frankest acknowledgment yet by a top American official of the degree to which the controversy has damaged United States-Israeli relations.
The speech, scheduled for March 3, was arranged by Mr. Boehner and the Israeli ambassador without consulting the White House a move that Mr. Obamas team has called a breach of protocol.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/26/us/politics/susan-rice-calls-netanyahus-planned-visit-destructive-to-us-israel-ties.html?_r=0
Cha
(297,528 posts)SleeplessinSoCal
(9,135 posts)Charlie seemed incredulous to the notion.
quadrature
(2,049 posts)you have to start somewhere
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)BillZBubb
(10,650 posts)Will Israeli voters endorse this man and his methods once again? If so, that will tell us a lot about them.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)BillZBubb
(10,650 posts)If Rice said it, Israelis can be sure it is coming directly from the US administration. No anonymous source here.
The people of Israel need to ask themselves if this is the road they want to take. Directly insulting a US president and his party is a big step to take for a country dependent on US good will and support.
Netanyahu and his supporters are dangerous people, both to their region and Israel itself. Hopefully, enough Israelis soon come to realize this.
Tom Rinaldo
(22,913 posts)But he is stressing the ties that bind us and now visible signs of fraying have emerged that the Israel public would be foolish to ignore. Netanyahu is playing with fire given how critical deep bi-partisan American support is to Israel. Most of the damage being done is going on below the surface where it can easily be missed. Support for Israel is dropping among younger voters in particular. Israel will need strong American support 15 years from now just as much as they do now.