Vice President Joe Biden will not attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress in March, a speech that Democrats have threatened to boycott.
The vice president’s office confirmed to the Washington Examiner that Biden would be traveling abroad during Netanyahu’s March 3 speech. Biden’s aides did not say where Biden would be visiting.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, invited Netanyahu to address Congress. The invitation angered the White House, which said it should have first been informed.
Netanyahu is expected to press lawmakers for new sanctions on Iran, a position that clashes with President Obama’s. As such, Democrats attending the speech could be put in an awkward spot.
Obama has already announced he will not meet with Netanyahu when the Israeli leader visits Washington, saying it’s too close to Israel’s elections.
Typically, the vice president attends an address by a major world leader to a joint session of Congress.
The Associated Press first reported that Biden would not attend the Netanyahu speech.
