Benjamin Netanyahu will not meet with Senate Democrats next week.
The Israeli Prime Minister, who arrives in Washington, D.C., next week to address a joint session of Congress on the subject of a nuclear Iran, turned down an invitation from Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Dianne Feinstein of California to meet privately with the Senate Democratic Caucus.
In his response to the invitation from the two Democratic senators, Netanyahu said visiting with them would only add to the partisan tensions brought on by his visit and March 3 address to Congress.
“Though I greatly appreciate your kind invitation to meet with Democratic senators, I believe that doing so could compound the misperception of partisanship regarding my upcoming visit. I would, of course, be glad to address a bipartisan forum of senators behind closed doors on a future visit, as I have been privileged to do many times in the past,” Netanyahu wrote to the two senators.
Netanyahu also said that his visit to the U.S. is to address representatives of the American people from both sides of the aisle, not a specific political party.
“I regret that the invitation to address the special joint session of Congress has been perceived by some to be political or partisan. I can assure you that my sole intention in accepting it was to voice Israel’s grave concerns about a potential nuclear agreement with Iran that could threaten the survival of my country,” Netanyahu wrote in the letter.
Durbin and Feinstein’s offices confirmed to Politico that they received the letter on Tuesday night.
Durbin, the number two Democrat in the Senate, and Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, extended the invitation “to maintain Israel’s dialogue with both political parties in Congress,” according to Reuters.
Numerous Democrats have expressed disproval of Netanyahu’s visit, which stems from an invitation House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, extended without informing President Obama or the White House.
Obama, along with Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry, will not attend the Netanyahu’s address next week, citing the upcoming Israeli elections. A number of congressional Democrats have also said they will not attend, angry over the way the invitation was extended.
“His refusal to meet is disappointing to those of us who have stood by Israel for decades,” Durbin said Tuesday night.
National Security Adviser Susan Rice on Tuesday evening blasted Netanyahu’s impending visit, calling the address “destructive” to the U.S.-Israel relationship.
“What has happened over the last several weeks — by virtue of the invitation that was issued by the speaker and the acceptance of it by Prime Minister Netanyahu two weeks in advance of his election — is that on both sides, there has now been injected a degree of partisanship,” Rice said on PBS.
“It’s destructive of the fabric of the relationship,” she added.
