Nat’l Security Adviser: Netanyahu’s Speech ‘Destructive’ To US-Israel Relations

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National Security Adviser Susan Rice on Tuesday sharply criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned address to the U.S. Congress as “destructive” to U.S.-Israeli relations.

Rice told PBS’ Charlie Rose that while the relationship between the U.S. and Israel “has always been bipartisan,” politics have marred that alliance since House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) invited Netanyahu to speak before Congress without consulting the White House.

“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.

“It’s not only unfortunate, it’s destructive of the fabric of the relationship,” she added.

Netanyahu on Tuesday turned down an invitation to meet privately with Senate Democrats when he comes to Washington. In declining the invitation from Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the prime minister wrote that such a meeting “could compound the misperception of partisanship regarding my upcoming visit.”

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