The Orthodox Union, which bills itself as the largest orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, issued a statement on Tuesday encouraging all members of Congress to attend Netanyahu’s March 3 address. The group called the partisan controversy surrounding the speech regrettable, suggesting it would have been better had House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, not made an end run around President Obama to invite Netanyahu to Capitol Hill.
But the Orthodox Union said Israel’s status a key U.S. ally, and the subject matter of the prime minister’s address, the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, should trump all other concerns. The White House has moved to undermine Netanyahu’s visit, with Vice President Joe Biden saying he can’t attend because of a scheduling conflict and about two dozen other Democrats saying they will boycott the speech.
The statement follows below:
Much ink has been spilled debating the political dimensions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming address to the U.S. Congress – both within the context of the impending Israeli elections and the impact of the visit on domestic U.S. politics.
Unfortunately, however, what has become obscured by this political posturing is the real, and critically important, issue facing us: the existential threat that a nuclear-armed Iran poses not only to America and to Israel, but to the world at large.
While the way this event was planned is regrettable, we appreciate that the historically bipartisan nature of America’s support for Israel remains strong.
Our safety and security, and that of the Middle East, is not – and cannot be allowed to become – a partisan political issue.
Quite apart from its nuclear weapons ambitions, Iran’s direct sponsorship of terrorism throughout the Middle East – in Lebanon, on the Golan Heights, in Gaza and most recently in Yemen – makes plain that a nuclear armed Iran poses the greatest threat to global peace and stability in decades.
It is against this backdrop that the views of the prime minister of Israel on the Iranian threat, and the pending negotiations regarding its nuclear program, must be heard and considered. A full understanding of the Iranian threat, which must be gleaned from many sources, is of vital importance to an informed congressional judgment on what is the most pressing national security issue of our time.
The Orthodox Union urges all members of Congress and Americans who care deeply about American and global security to respectfully and carefully listen to the unique perspective of the elected leader of our key ally – Israel – in this increasingly unstable time.
