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Wednesday 21 January 2015

Netanyahu invited to address Congress on Iran

House Speaker John Boehner invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress next month and discuss the threat from Iran.

“In this time of challenge, I am asking the Prime Minister to address Congress on the grave threats radical Islam and Iran pose to our security and way of life,” Boehner said in a statement.

Netanyahu had accepted the invitation, an Israeli official said, adding that the prime minister was exploring the possibility of meeting with Obama during the visit.

Boehner, in a statement Wednesday, also is rebuffing President Barack Obama’s call for Congress to delay new penalties against Iran over its nuclear program.

Boehner says Netanyahu is quite capable of addressing that issue.

The trip would be five weeks before Israel’s March 17 elections and could give Netanyahu a boost with voters at home and help him underscore his main campaign theme that he is best placed to tackle regional security threats.

Opinion polls show his right-wing Likud party running neck-and-neck with center-left Labour but give him the best chance of forming a governing coalition with far-right and Jewish Orthodox factions after the vote.

The invitation came a day after US President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union address he would veto legislation that toughens sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program

Boehner was informing the GOP caucus of his invitation in a private meeting. He says Obama expects Congress to stand idly by and do nothing while the administration negotiates with Tehran.

Boehner’s response: “Hell, no.”


Reuters contributed to this report.

via ynetnews.com

Source: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4617718,00.html

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