House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she isn’t sure she’ll attend Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned speech next month to a joint session of Congress, saying the invitation was unseemly and that lawmakers have other important things going on that could keep them from going.
She shied away from using the word “boycott” and said she hopes to make it. But she said for many lawmakers, a speech by a foreign head of state is “not a high priority for them,” and she wants either Mr. Netanyahu or House Speaker John A. Boehner, who issued the invitation, to cancel the speech.
“As of now it is my intention to go,” she said. “It’s still my hope that the event not take place.”
The White House said Wednesday that Vice President Joseph R. Biden, who is the chief presiding officer of the Senate, hasn’t set his schedule for March 3, the date of the speech, and wouldn’t commit right now to attending.
Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, said Congress might need to strip speakers of the power to call joint sessions of Congress because of this invitation, which the White House and its Democratic allies believe is being done to embarrass President Obama, who is locked in tricky negotiations with Iran over that country’s nuclear program.
“Maybe we even have to review the idea of joint sessions of Congress,” Mrs. Pelosi said.
On Wednesday, a group of Jewish Democrats who serve in the House pressed Israel’s ambassador to postpone the speech or move it to another venue, saying it was a “thumb in the eye” to Mr. Obama.
Mr. Boehner defended his decision to issue the invitation, saying he still believes it was the right move.
“There’s a message that the American people need to hear and I think he’s the perfect person to deliver it,” the Ohio Republican said. He said Mr. Netanyahu can help Americans understand the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran and to understand the threat posed by radical Islam.
Mr. Boehner issued the invitation without consulting the White House. White House officials called that a breach of protocol, and announced Mr. Obama would not be meeting with Mr. Netanyahu during the visit because it is too close to Israel’s elections.
Mrs. Pelosi called the creation of Israel the political highlight of the 20th century and said she remains committed to the country’s safety, adding that Iran must not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons. But she said the invitation to Mr. Netanyahu has been a political distraction from the goal of keeping Iran from going nuclear.
“This, I think going forward in this way, the way this conversation is taking so much energy and is really stressful, is beneath the challenge that we have,” she said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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